Two in three doctors receive highest subsidy rate

In 1997, 64 per cent of specialist physicians in private practice received the highest subsidy rate from the county. At 1 July 1997 the subsidy amounted to NOK 453,700 per year, up 8.4 percentage points from 1990.

Of altogether 347 man-years for specialist physicians, 222 man-years were granted the highest subsidy rate. Broken down by specialist area, eye doctors and ear, nose and throat specialists had the most man-years at the highest operating agreement rate. On the other hand, no specialists in rheumatology received the highest operating subsidy rate.

In addition to the subsidy, the doctors received the reimbursement rate from the National Insurance Administration and patient co-payments.

Counties provide operating subsidies to doctors with a private practice agreement in accordance with the agreement between the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities and the Norwegian Medical Association. The classification is done according to local negotiations between the county and the individual specialist. Negotiations are based on the individual specialist's needs regarding space, technical equipment and staff.

New Statistics
County health statistics, 1997. Ambulance services and specialist physicians in private practice.
The statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information, contact: Trude.Fagerli@ssb.no, tel. 21 09 44 88, or Vera.Lower@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 49 26.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 40, 1998