Anotace:
The paper examines the intensity and structure of the use of health services and outlines the current functioning thereof in the context of diabetes care in Czechia. The aim is to assess the various healthcare aspects influenced by the settings of the Czech system. The patients studied had all been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus and used health services in Czechia in 2019. The selected segments of the health system that concern the management of diabetes care comprise outpatient diabetology, general practice and internal medicine. A total of 466,679 patients were included. The variables of age, sex and size category of the municipality of residence of the patient were monitored in the follow-up of the use of outpatient diabetes care. Most diabetes patients used outpatient diabetologist services, whereas less than one-third of patients visited a general practitioner. Furthermore, a large proportion of patients was less likely to be referred to a medical examination than is recommended. Conversely, the overuse of healthcare was evident for those patients that required a higher level of specialization, particularly physicians with the same competencies. We assume that changes in the coordination and provision of diabetes care and an improvement in surveillance would enhance the efficiency of diabetes care and improve the response to the increase in the occurrence of type 2 diabetes in the future.