How Often Patients Visit the Doctor

Gary M Levin M.D.

How often do people visit the doctor?

If a country’s average doctor visits are high, it could be easy to assume the population isn’t healthy. At the same time not going enough may seem like there’s an accessibility issue.  As with most sociological data, the devil is in the details. And differences in payment systems, insurance plans, and how healthcare is delivered all play a part in why going to the doctor is more common or not.  This chart tracks the number of in-person doctor visits per year by country. Data is sourced from the OECD, as of 2021, or the latest year available. Figures are rounded.

As with most sociological data, the devil is in the details. And differences in payment systems, insurance plans, and how healthcare is delivered all play a part in why going to the doctor is more common or not.

Let's compare the United States which has an average number of doctor visits per year (2-3) and So. Korea  (13-16)

Comments:

I happened to do one of my master's projects on South Korea’s healthcare system….they have one of the best, low-cost, high-access, low-mortality systems in the world, with a pharmacy attached to nearly every outpatient clinic. In the US, access is sparse for nearly all outpatient specialties and is on a trajectory to get even worse. All while we pay extraordinarily high rates for our health insurance and have deplorable numbers on our mortality rates despite the advanced technology that we boast over other nations. Sad.

Gatekeeping primary care (with well-trained professionals and adequately organized) is one of the best measures to improve health systems in terms of cost-efficiency, quality, person-centredness, and prevention …only 6% to 10% of people are referred to specialist care (and accordingly they can focus on the matters they’re trained for) and the rest can be better solved at primary care level: all supported by evidence 😊 and a key message for all institutions dealing with health systems improvement. 

Note: a well-trained family doctor is a specialist…in general medicine 😉

the future for health systems looks pretty grim. Many of the populist and autocratic-dominated governments don’t show much realistic plans for sustainable health systems.  The good news is, that we have a lot of knowledge, evidence, and practices on how to make better health and social care systems.   Strong leadership and executive power are desperately needed in most systems more than ever, but voters should understand this is something different than populist rhetoric ☺️…in this respect, also the academic community has something to answer for…

 Useful tips

The article from Visual Capitalist explores global variations in the frequency of doctor visits by country, based on OECD data. Key insights include:  South Korea leads with 16 annual doctor visits per person, thanks to its efficient healthcare system and national insurance that covers over 70% of costs.   Japan and Slovakia follow with 11 visits annually, while Germany and Hungary average 10.

Conversely, Americans have one of the lowest averages, just two visits annually, largely due to high co-payments and reliance on nurse practitioners and other medical staff. Variations are influenced by differences in healthcare systems, payment models, accessibility, and the roles of non-doctor healthcare professionals.

Countries like Sweden, Canada, and Finland also report lower visits due to reliance on nurse practitioners and similar professionals.  The analysis highlights the complexities in interpreting healthcare data and the evolving demand for medical professionals worldwide.

Editor's commentary

Wow, I had no idea I was such an overachiever when it comes to doctor visits! Maybe I should start a loyalty program. On a serious note, it's interesting to see how different countries approach healthcare.