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204 Economic crisis, health systems and health in Europe: country experience
and 57.1% for anorectal cancers, all of which represented a slight increase when
compared with 2009. The number of potentially avoidable hospital admissions
is an indicator that is frequently used to assess the quality of the primary/
ambulatory care system. Total hospital discharges (a proxy for admissions)
per 1000 population have been decreasing in Latvia since 2006 and more
rapidly since 2008 (Fig. 6.6).
Fig. 6.6 Total number of hospital discharges per 1000 population and discharges by
primary diagnosis in Latvia, 2006–2010
Hospital discharges by diagnosis (per 1,000 population)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Source: Mitenbergs et al., 2012.
250
200
150
100
50
0
Total hospital discharges (per 1,000 population)
Asthma,
status
asthmaticus
Hypertensive
diseases
Acute
myocardial
infarction
Diabetes
mellitus
Total
Users' experience
Although Latvia does not routinely conduct systematic surveys to gauge public
perception of the health system, two surveys were conducted in 2008. One
was commissioned by the State Compulsory Health Insurance Agency and was
a representative survey of those aged 18–74 years to assess Latvians' views on
receiving state-paid health care services (State Compulsory Health Insurance
Agency, 2008). The other was a survey conducted by the Central Statistical
Bureau of Latvia (2009) in the context of the European Health Interview Survey
(Eurostat, 2012a). According to the survey carried out by the State Compulsory
Health Insurance Agency, 77% of the population was either completely or
partially satisfied with their family doctor and only 16% was completely or
partially dissatisfied. However, positive responses to a more general question
about the possibility to gain access to state-paid care were much rarer, with only
50% saying it was good or somewhat good and 36% saying it was somewhat