High-tech devices

Provider of health care services or a health care facility — a legal person whose principal or ancillary activity is to provide health care services. Health care provider must have an activity licence issued by the Health Board.

Type of provider of health care services — health care providers are divided into the following types: hospitals, family doctor's offices, specialist health care providers, dental care providers, emergency medical care providers, rehabilitation care providers, diagnostics providers, nursing care providers and other providers (see classifications).

The purpose of collecting and producing statistical information on High-tech devices is to obtain an overview of the number and location of such equipment.

The data are collected from health care providers that have been issued activity licences for the provision of health care services and from all family physicians with a practice list, pursuant to the Health Services Organisation Act and decree by the Minister of Social Affairs on the basis of the HCSOA.

Compilation of the statistics on High-tech devices is based on table “Medical equipment” (until 2015 “High-tech equipment”) in the “Health Care Institution” report.

Reporting is mandatory for all legal persons that own such ready to use equipment or lease it under financial or operational lease, except for blood establishments, emergency medical care and dental care establishments.

The data are collected as of 31st of December. Until 2014 data for hybrid devices is considered multiple times according to equipment's function. From 2015 data is collected by new methodology – hybrid devices counts as one according to EUROSTAT directions:

• gamma camera - CT scanner (SPET+CT) counts as gamma camera
• PET scanner - CT scanner (PET+CT) counts as PET scanner
• PET scanner - MRI scanner (PET+MRI) counts as PET scanner

Therefore the 2015 data is not comparable with previous years. In Estonia, medical hybrid devices are in use since 2007.

Since 2016, data about five devices have added: haemodialysis machine, barotherapy chamber, anaesthetic machine, medical ventilator and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). SPECT is subclass of gamma camera (SPET).

Classification of hospitals

On the basis of the services they provide hospitals are divided into seven types: regional hospitals, central hospitals, general hospitals, local hospitals, special hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals and nursing care hospitals. Requirements for different hospital types are laid down in Decree No. 103 Requirements for Hospital Types (in Estonian), issued by the Minister of Social Affairs on 19 August 2004.

Classification of health care service provider

On the basis of the type of provided health care service the health care service providers are divided in the following way:

• Hospital — a health care provider which complies with the requirements related to location, construction, administrative organisation and staff, aimed at providing inpatient medical care in medical specialties. As a rule, in addition to inpatient health care service, hospitals also provide outpatient and day care services.
• Family doctor’s office — a health care provider in which outpatient health care services are provided by a medical practitioner specialised as a family doctor operating based on his/her practice list.
• Specialist health care provider — a health care provider in which outpatient health care services are provided by a medical specialist and health care professionals working with him/her. These include the facilities providing occupational health services.
• Dental care provider — a health care provider in which outpatient health care services are provided by a dentist and health care professionals working with him/her.
• Emergency medical care provider — outpatient health care provider for the initial diagnosis and treatment of a life-threatening disease, injury or poisoning and, if necessary, for the transport of the person in need of assistance to a hospital. Emergency medical care providers only encompass independent emergency medical care providers.
• Rehabilitation care provider — a health care provider which provides outpatient health care services with the aim of improving people’s condition of health and in case of which the health-related limits to everyday life either arise from an injury or the chronic nature of the disease.
• Diagnostics provider — a provider of outpatient health services for the assessment of the patient’s state of health with the help of laboratory tests and diagnostic examinations.
• Nursing care provider — a health care provider in which independent outpatient or inpatient health care services are provided only by nurses and/or midwives.
• Other provider — this group includes providers which have not been mentioned above, but which hold an activity licence enabling them to provide health care services, e.g., Estonian Defence Forces, facilities providing school health care service, prison outpatient medical departments and also the providers which deal with the organisation of first aid courses, hold telephone medical consultations and provide support staff for family physicians.

The health care service providers mentioned above are classified in descending order of rank, i.e. if one facility provides several health care services, it is classified as an facility providing a relevant service mentioned afore in the list.

Katrin Tomson

Department of Health Statistics

National Institute for Health Development

E-mail: Katrin.Tomson[at]tai.ee

Updated: 22.04.2024