Original scientific paper
Home Visits in Croatian Family Practice: A Longitudinal Study: 1995–2012
Hida Javorić
; Family Practice »Dr. Hida Javori}«, Zagreb, Croatia
Vlatka Topolovec-Nižetić
; Health Center Zagreb-Centar, Family Practice Utrina, Zagreb, Croatia
Gordana Pavleković
; University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, School of Public Health »Andrija [tampar«, Department of Social Medicine and Organization of Health Care, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Similar to other countries, home visits in Croatia are within the scope of family medicine (FM). The significant
changes have been implemented within the FM with almost no scientific evaluation. The study was undertaken with the
main aim to determine the overall trends in home visiting in Croatian FM between 1995 and 2012. A data sources were
Croatian Health Service Yearbooks, 1995–2012. The numbers of family doctors, practice visits and home visits were collected.
Results indicate that the annual number of home visits is relatively small, whether it is viewed per patient (0.1) or
per doctor (160) with a decreased trend. The geographical variations are observed too. It seems that HC reforms did not
have any influence on the observed trends. This should seriously be taken into the consideration in the future planning
on the ways to keep growing hospital expenses under control.
Keywords
home visits; family practice; health care reforms; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
147527
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2014.
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