The delivery of safe, high-quality medical services requires among other things an adequate number of physicians. OECD countries display very different levels in the number of physicians. In 2005, the density of physicians in Turkey (1.5 per 1 000 inhabitants) was half the OECD average, while Greece had 5 practising physicians per 1 000 inhabitants (Figure 26.1).

The variation in the number of physicians among OECD countries is an indicator of the services provided by physicians. Even though other components of health systems (such as nurse practitioners and tele-health technology) can substitute for physicians, the variation in the number of physicians reflects differences in the design and territorial management of the health system.

Disparities in the number of physicians among regions within the same country, gives an indication of the accessibility of health services. In 2005, the regional variation in the number of physicians was the widest in the United States and the Czech Republic. In both countries the large variation is due to the fact that the national capital region has a high density of practising physicians, compared to the other regions. In the United States, the District of Columbia has a physician density three times higher than the country average, while the density in the region of Prague (the Czech Republic) is two times higher than the country average. A more balanced regional distribution in the number of physicians is observed in New Zealand, Japan and Poland (Figure 26.2).

As expected, the density of physicians is greater in regions with a prevalence of urban population due to the concentration of higher order services (such as surgery and specialised practitioners) in metropolitan centres. A positive correlation between the number of physicians and the share of population in urban regions is found in 19 out of 21 countries. The highest values are observed in Greece, the Slovak Republic, Germany and Sweden (Figure 26.3).

Source

OECD Regional Database, http://dotstat/wbos/, theme: Regional Statistics.

See for data sources and country related metadata.

OECD Health Database, http://dotstat/wbos/, National practicing physicians.

Reference years and territorial level

2005; TL2

Japan and the Netherlands 2004; Portugal and Turkey 2003; Iceland and Switzerland 2002; the United Kingdom 2000.

No regional data available for Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Korea.

Figure notes

Figure 26.1: Source: OECD Health Database. Denmark, Japan and the Slovak Republic 2004.

Figure 26.3: For each country three correlations are run between the regional physician density and the share of regional population living in PU, IN and PR regions.