[Utilization of health services: patients and visits]

The use of the outpatient medical services belongs to the health care system as part of the interaction between the services and the population. The aim of the study was to define the use of services separating visits (repetitive elements) from patients (non-repetitive elements). The visits and the patients were evaluated for a two-month period in an urban general practice. The results were compared between themselves and for those from samples recording seven days. There were no differences regarding use between groups of visits during seven-day and forty-day periods (0.9 and 0.89 visits per month, respectively). The patients from the seven-day groups used more commonly the practice than those from the general forty-day group (0.8 and 0, 65 visits per month, respectively). Thus, if short recording periods are taken, a group of patients with a high rate of use is selected.