[Regional differences in hospital utilization]

Many recent studies have demonstrated that hospital utilization rates vary widely among similar areas and regions. The objective of this study is to find out the variation among the hospitalization rates in Spain across the 17 Autonomic Communities in 1988. From the Hospital Morbidity Survey we calculate the general discharge rate and the rate for 14 diagnostics. To evaluate the degree of variation we calculate the coefficient of variation, the ratio of variation and the systematic component of variation, which ranges from 0.96 (hernia) to 8.45 (varicose veins). This substantial variations are consistent with studies performed in countries with different health systems. Although new information systems which allow to perform population based studies are due to establish, these variations are too large to ignore and have to be taken account in policy making.