Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T12:05:48.805Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessment of the Maximum Waiting Time Guarantee for Cataract Surgery: The Case of a Swedish Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Marianne Hanning  and
Mats Lundström
Marianne Hanning
Affiliation:
Uppsala University
Mats Lundström
Affiliation:
Blehinge Hospital Karlskrona
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cataract is the most common reason for visual problems in old age. The introduction of intraocular lens (IOL) implantation revolutionized cataract surgery. Since the IOL technique was established in Sweden in the early 1980s, the demand for surgery has been increasing, leading to lengthy waiting lists. To shorten some of the most troublesome waiting lists, national and local governments (county councils) in Sweden introduced a maximum waiting time guarantee in 1992. The assessment of the guarantee made in this article shows that ophthalmic surgery units vary in their adoption of the guarantee, leading to different levels of goal achievement in waiting times for their patients. The less successful units could be divided into two groups: one where the units have a low operation rate, and one where the units chose not to follow the recommendations in priority setting made in the guarantee.

Type
General Essays
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , Winter 1998 , pp. 180 - 193
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Aktuella väntetider, patienter på väntelista m m för behandlingar/insatser som omfatta av Vårdgarantin: Årsskiftet 1995/96 (Waiting times and patients on waiting lists for treatments included in the maximum waiting-time guarantee, December 1995). Stockholm: Federation of County Councils, 1996.Google Scholar
2.Calltorp, J., & Rosenthal, M. (ed.). Swedish health services at the crossroads. Health Policy, 1992, 21, 95–186.Google Scholar
3.Dickson, R., Eastwood, A., Paramjit, G., et al. Management of cataract. Quality in Health Care, 1996, 5, 180–85.Google Scholar
4.Frankel, S. The origins of waiting lists. In Frankel, S. & West, R. (eds.). Rationing and rationality in the national health services: The persistence of waiting lists. London: MacMillan, 1993.Google Scholar
5.Hanning, M.Maximum waiting-time guarantee: An attempt to reduce waiting lists in Sweden. Health Policy, 1996, 36, 17–35.Google Scholar
6.Hanning, M., & Winblad, U.Enkäter till klinik-och sjukhusledningar angående vårdgarantins betydelse och effekter—våren 1995 (Survey to departmental and hospital managers concerning the impact and effects of the maximum waiting-time guarantee). Enheten for forskning inom primärvård och socialtjänst. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, 1995.Google Scholar
7.Kahn, H. A., Liebowitz, H. M., Ganley, J. P., et al. The Framingham eye study: Outline and major prevalence findings. American Journal of Epidemiology 1977, 106, 17–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Klein, B., Klein, R., & Linton, K.Prevalence of age-related lens opacities in a population. Opthalmology, 1992, 99, 546–52.Google Scholar
9.Lundström, M., Stenevi, U., & Thorburn, W.Kataraktoperationer och väntetid under 1995: Rapport baserad på data från Rikskataraktregistret 1995(Cataract surgery and waiting time in 1995). Karlskrona: Ögonkliniken Karlskrona, 1996.Google Scholar
10.Lundström, M., Stenevi, U., & Thorburn, W.Assessment of waiting time and priority setting by means of a national register. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 1996, 12, 136–40.Google Scholar
11.Mordue, A., Parkin, D. W., Baxter, C., et al. Thresholds for treatment in cataract surgery. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 1994, 4, 393–98.Google Scholar
12.Nordberg, M., Keskimaki, I., & Hemminki, E.Is there a relation between waiting-list length and surgery rate? International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 1994, 9, 259–65.Google Scholar
13.Regeringens skrivelse 1990/91:97, Överenskommelse mellan staten och Landstingsförbundet angående vårdgaranti för 1992(Government communiqué, agreement of a maximum waiting-time guarantee between the state and the Federation of County Councils). Stockholm: Federation of County Councils, 1991.Google Scholar
14.Sanderson, H. F.What is a waiting list? British Medical Journal, 69, 1982, 1368–69.Google Scholar
15. Socialstyrelsen (National Board of Health and Welfare). Fyra år med vårdgaranti: Erfarenheter och effekter (Four years with the maximum waiting-time guarantee: Experiences and effects) (summary in English). Socialstyrelsen följer upp och utvärderar, 1997, 2.Google Scholar