Unregulated access to health-care services is associated with overutilization--lessons from Austria

The Austrian health-care system is characterized by free provider choice and uncontrolled access to all levels of care. Using primary data, the ECOHCARE study shows that hospitalization rates for the secondary and tertiary care levels in Austria are both 4.4 times higher than those reported from the USA using a similar methodology. At the same time, essential functions of the primary care sector are weak. We propose that regulating access to secondary and tertiary care and restricting free provider choice to the primary care level would both reverse over utilization and strengthen the primary care sector.