Structural Problems and Coordination Issues in the Austrian Health System

The Austrian healthcare system is characterised by a complex and fragmented structure of planning, decision-making, and financing. A governance analysis suggests that this fragmentation creates misaligned incentives in patient navigation and in the coordination between outpatient and inpatient care. Deficiencies in steering and coordination across care sectors, combined with fragmented financing arrangements, contribute to a tendency for patients to utilise more costly hospital outpatient departments or inpatient services rather than consulting office-based specialists. The study further examines empirically how regional differences in physician density affect the utilisation of inpatient services. In addition, it analyses the impact of newly established primary care centres on inpatient services as well as on other healthcare providers.