Health Care Spending Structures in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia Over the Years as Compared to Other EU Countries
Foundations of Management. 2018;10(1):45-58 DOI 10.2478/fman-2018-0005
Journal Title: Foundations of Management
ISSN: 2300-5661 (Online)
Publisher: Sciendo
Society/Institution: Warsaw University of Technology
LCC Subject Category: Social Sciences: Industries. Land use. Labor: Management. Industrial management | Social Sciences: Commerce: Business
Country of publisher: Poland
Language of fulltext: English
Full-text formats available: PDF
AUTHORS
Walczak Renata
(Warsaw University of Technology, College of Economics and Social Sciences, Plock, Poland)
Piekut Marlena
(Warsaw University of Technology, College of Economics and Social Sciences, Plock, Poland)
Kludacz-Alessandri Magdalena
(Warsaw University of Technology, College of Economics and Social Sciences, Plock, Poland)
Sloka Biruta
(University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia)
Šimanskiene Ligita
(Klaipeda University, Klaipeda, Lithuania)
Paas Tiiu
(Tartu University, Tartu, Estonia)
EDITORIAL INFORMATION
Time From Submission to Publication: 12 weeks
Abstract | Full Text
After joining the European Union in 2004, the post-communist countries have dramatically changed their structure of expenditure for medical services. The cause of this is legislative and ownership changes in the new economy. The study analyzed the expenditure on medical services in the European Union with a special focus on Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The European Union countries were divided into clusters using different methods, that is, Ward’s, Two Step and Centroid Clustering. In the paper, the structure and changes in health expenses were presented according to the types of expenditures over the years 2004-2015. Countries were assigned to clusters based on three variables: medical products, appliances and equipment, outpatient services and hospital services. Variables were considered as a percentage of household budget. In Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, there is a clear increase in the outpatient services spending compared to the hospital services expenditure.