The OECD’s Healthcare Quality and Outcomes programme (HCQO) aims to enable international comparisons of healthcare quality. Indicators are developed and reported for that purpose.
Among other things, this programme examines hospitalisations following four common chronic conditions: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart disease and diabetes.
For these conditions, a well-functioning primary care system can avoid costly and undesirable hospitalisations[1].
Below, we compare the number of hospitalisations for congestive heart disease and diabetes across a number of European countries[2]. The number of admissions per 100,000 of the population gives an indication of the functioning of the primary care system. For these 2 diseases, a large variation can be observed across European countries.
Number of hospital stays related to congestive heart failure per 100,000 population (2019 or latest year available)
Number of hospital stays related to diabetes per 100,000 population (2019 or latest available year)
[1]OECD (2020), Realising the Potential of Primary Health Care, OECD Health Policy Studies, OECD Publishing. Paris, https://doi. org/10.1787/a92adee4-en.
[2]Source: OECD, Health Statistics 2022