Outpatient physiotherapy services in Latvian regional hospitals: Characteristics of receivers, the volume of services and source of funding

Objective: To analyse the outpatient physiotherapy services provided in the regional hospitals of Latvia in 2017 and the profile of their receivers. Methods: In the research, 7 regional hospitals of Latvia participated, in which the analysis of statistical documentation of 2017 was carried out. The following data was collected about the receivers of outpatient physiotherapy services: age, gender, clinical diagnosis and place of residence; about the volume of service provided - the number of visits per patient; about the source of funding (state budget, private resources, insurance). Results: In the regional hospitals of Latvia, outpatient physiotherapy services in 2017 were received by 6957 patients, the most commonly adults of working age with basic clinical diagnosis of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue diseases, and children up to the age of one year with diagnosis of certain conditions originating in the perinatal period. Among the regional hospitals of Latvia there are significant differences in the volume of outpatient physiotherapy services provided to one patient with a similar clinical diagnosis and age. Latvian regional hospitals still do not have electronic records of all outpatient physiotherapy services, which does not allow to judge about provided services and their receivers, which are financed by patients private resources.