Births and abortions 2017
12 JUNE 2018
Births and abortions statistics 2017 is published in the Health Statistics and Health Research Database.
Geriatric assessment service availability descended
12 JUNE 2018
Data of 2017 geriatric assessments have been published in database.
In 2017, the service was provided by four hospitals. During last six years, the number of geriatric assessment service providers declined by almost three times. Therefore the service availability descended and the number of geriatric assessments decreased by 15% compared to 2016 (553 to 468).
Geriatric assessment refers to evaluating the overall health, functional and social condition of grown up individuals with multiple coping disorders together with implementing a tailored service plan by a team of specialists consisting of a physician (specially trained to provide help for geriatric patients), nurse, social worker and other specialists (if required). Persons are assessed on a regular evaluating basis (i.e. persons assessed several times in a given year are evaluated on multiple occasions).
People with Estonian health insurance treated abroad and treatment of foreigners in Estonia
04 JUNE 2018
In 2017, other European countries health care providers presented medical bills to Estonian Health Insurance Fund of up to 7 million EUR for Estonian travellers, workers or pensioners staying temporarly or living for longer and who had used health care services in that country, which is almost 2% less than a year before.
It is a cost that does not include scheduled treatment, or medical bills submitted under the "Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare", which, in addition to the aforementioned 7 million, is another 7 million EUR.
Health insured in Estonia, used health care services in 30 European countries. If in 2015 and 2016 most of the health care services were used in Germany, then in 2017 most medical bills were submitted from Finland.
In Estonia, around 7,000 people from Europe in a year used the health care services, and this number has remained stable over the last three years. Most (over four thousand) of these people came from Finland.
Both foreign men and women used the most general surgical service in Estonia. Followed by orthopedics and internal medicine services. Other European countries' insured persons are mainly provided with outpatient services in central and regional hospitals.
Data is published in Health Statistics and Health Research Database.
The number of health care personnel overall and the average age of family physicians is increasing
04 JUNE 2018
Last year, there were 23,750 health care professionals in practice in Estonia, an increase of 1.6% compared to 2016.
Last year, the number of physicians was 4,569 and it increased by 0.5%. The average age of physicians was 51 years and it has not changed over the last year. The average age of our family doctors continues to grow and was 55 years in 2017. One-fifth of them are 65 years of age or older. At the same time, the number of family nurses has increased by 4%. The number of family nurses was 1,242 and their average age was 47 years.
In 2017, 3.5 physicians and 6.5 nursing staff, including 6.2 nurses per 1,000 inhabitants were in Estonia. In 2015, the average number of physicians per 1,000 inhabitants in the European Union countries was similar, but the number of nursing staff was almost one and a half times bigger - 8.6.
54% of physicians worked full-time, one-quarter worked less and one-fifth with a bigger workload. Most of the nurses (67%) worked full-time, but a one-tenth with a bigger workload.
Health care personnel data is available in the Health Statistics and Health Research Database. Statistics on health care personnel working in the Hospital Masterplan hospitals can be found here and the division of health care providers by the number of employees is published under “Health care providers” (table TTO15).
Causes of deaths 2017
31 MAY 2018
The data for deaths and death rates in 2017 were published in the Health Statistics and Health Research Database.
According to the Causes of Death Registry, 15 442 deaths were registered in Estonia in 2017, which is 1.1% more than a year earlier. Growth is affected by the population aging - the standardized mortality rate per 100,000 inhabitants has fallen instead: from 1203 to 1188, or 1.2%.
Figure. The causes of death in Estonia, 2017