Cruz-Martinez G, Perna R, Moreno Fuentes FJ. Inter-regional patient mobility in decentralised Spain: Explaining regional budget imbalances.
Int J Health Plann Manage 2024. [PMID:
38393967 DOI:
10.1002/hpm.3794]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 02/03/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Inter-regional patient mobility represents both a resource and a challenge for the organization and financing of health systems, particularly in decentralised countries. We use cross-sectional time series regression analysis to test the determinants of imbalances in regional funds to finance inter-regional patient mobility for the 17 Spanish regions for the period 2014-2020. The findings indicate that highly specialised health centres and bilateral agreements partly explain the budget imbalance from inter-regional patient referrals, while local tourism partly explains the budget imbalance from non-referred patient mobility. Developing effective national schemes to compensate net patient recipient regions would be fundamental to addressing territorial imbalances.
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