Desigualdades en la provisión de asistencia médica en el sector público de salud en Chile

From 1997 to 1999, the Chilean Ministry of Health conducted studies on the health care networks in each of the country's 13 regions in order to help plan regional health sector development and define investment projects. Health insurance coverage displayed major geographic, age, and gender variations. Out-patient and in-patient medical care in the public sector showed substantial geographic variations. According to patient discharge records from national referral hospitals, only some 20% of total health care capability is used to treat 60% of the Chilean population living in regions outside th...