Almost Half of Croatians Go to Private Doctors

Dissatisfied with the healthcare system, 45 percent of Croatian citizens at least once used services of private physicians.

ZAGREB, CROATIA – The dissatisfaction of Croatian citizens with the healthcare system is also reflected through the use of private doctors. About 45 percent of Croatians at least once used the services of a private doctor and the main reason is the speed at which the medical service can be realised, as well as the quality of the service, a new research shown by the GfK agency has shown. 

Of all the citizens who have seen a private doctor, most went to a dentist (38%), a gynaecologist (33%) and physicians – cardiologists, gastroenterologists, nephrologists (16%). The survey has also shown that men more often go to private doctors than women.

Private doctors are faster and have better service 

The youngest age group most often visits a private dentist (over 50% in the past year), women between 25 to 34 of age visit private gynaecologists and private physicians are mostly seen by people over the age of 65.

The most frequent reasons why people see private doctors are: the speed of the service (58% of those surveyed) and better quality service (46%).

In choosing a private doctor, citizens mostly listen to recommendations from their friends and more rarely use other sources of being informed about private doctors.

According to the estimate of those surveyed, citizens who use the services of private doctors spend on average about 320 kuna per visit in the past year. The GfK stresses that it is a rough estimate that Croatian citizens spent about 610,000,000 kuna for the services of private doctors in the past year, that is, about 660 kuna on average per person who used that type of service.