Quality of accessibility vs quality accessibility of medical service in Russia: Measurement issues

Abstract

One element of human capital that determines the prospects of national economic growth is population health. This is a multivariate concept and therefore, there can be distortions in estimating its level depending on the chosen metrics. The efficiency of the health care system as an indirect indicator of a nation’s health is often measured through composite indicators of the medical service quality and accessibility. Nonetheless, in the conditions of limited resources such evaluation may not reflect the actual situation. The paper aims to discuss the problems related to the balance in the quality and accessibility of medical service in Russia. Methodologically, the research relies on classical macroeconomics. The method is the analysis of series of socioeconomic indicators collected from Russian statistics for 2012–2021. The findings point to the existence of a normative and positive approaches to measuring the efficiency of the health care system based on the composite evaluation of the two parameters: the medical service quality and accessibility. The authors prove that such methodological ideology is erroneous, and suggest evaluating relative indicators that illustrate the ratio between the two parameters. The case of one of such ratios – a relative evaluation of the number of physicians, hospital beds and diseases per group – allowed obtaining the assessment of the labour productivity. According to the conclusions, the accessibility of the medical service in Russia is decreasing, which however, does not lead to the improvement of its quality.