High-tech devices

DEFINITIONS

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).

METHODOLOGY

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:

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).

CLASSIFICATIONS

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:

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.

CONTACT

Katrin Tomson

Department of Health Statistics

National Institute for Health Development

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

 

Updated: 22.04.2024