Türkiye’de Sağlık İnsangücünün Sağlık Hizmeti Kullanımı ve Sağlık Sonuçları Üzerine Etkisi

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of health workforce in Turkey on health service utilization and health outcomes. In the study, "Health Statistics Yearbook" prepared by the Ministry of Health and Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data were used. The study included the period of years 2012-2019. In this research, the total number of applications to the health institutions, the number of applications to the physician per person, the bed occupancy rate and the total number of surgeries as indicators of health service utilization; infant mortality rate and under-five mortality rate were used as indicators of health outcomes. For the meausement of health workforce; the number of general practitioners, specialist physicians, assistant physicians, nurses-midwives, dentists, pharmacists and other health personnel were taken. Panel data analysis was used to measure the effect of health workforce on service utilization and health outcomes. Panel data analysis was preferred because it provides the opportunity to examine the change according to both years and provinces. The results of the analysis showed that the health workforce affect health service utilization and health outcomes. It has been observed that health workforce did not have a significant effect on the bed occupancy rate, which is one of the health service utilization variables. It has been determined that the number of specialists and general practitioners has a positive effect on the total number of applications to the health institution, and the number of dentists had a negative effect. It was observed that the number of dentists and pharmacists had a positive effect on the number of applications to the physician per capita. On the number of operations, it was determined that the number of specialist physicians had a positive effect, while the number of general practitioners and dentists had a negative effect. Finally, it was determined that specialist physicians had a positive effect and general practitioners had a negative effect on infant and under-five mortality rates, which are indicators of health outcomes. It is thought that the results of the study will fill an important gap in the literature in terms of revealing the quantitative status of health workforce over the existing data set. Policy makers can use research results for effective health workforce planning. It is recommended to eliminate the skill and geographical imbalances between health professional groups in health workforce planning. It is thought that it is necessary to focus on the implementation of the necessary incentive and coordination mechanisms to attract health professionals to rural areas.