Health care needs only explain one percent of identified differences between inhabitants in different Swedish regions when it comes to utilizing primary care. Moreover, a large portion of this variation remains unexplained even after taking a number of different factors into account. This represents a problem as the overall goal is to provide health care based on need and on equal terms throughout the country. According to health economist Naimi Johansson in a new SNS report, a national primary care register is needed to come to grips with the scope and causes of unjustified differences.
