[Which physicians receive reimbursement for out-of-hours work?]

Abstract

Background: Norwegian regular general practitioners (RGPs) are required to participate in out-of-hours duty. The aim of this study was to determine their actual participation rate.

Material and methods: Information was collected from the RGP Database, the Municipality Database and from physicians' bills to the National Insurance in 2004. The material consists of 3,751 RGPs and 2,317 other physicians claiming reimbursement for out-of-hours work.

Results: RGPs received 51.8% of the total reimbursement for out-of-hours work, and 35.6% of them did not have any such income. Male RGPs received almost twice as much reimbursement for out-of-hours duty as their female colleagues, and there was a strong tendency for older RGPs to receive less. Among all physicians, young men were those who generally worked most frequently out-of-hours. RGPs' reimbursement dropped with poorer coverage of doctors, increasing list size, if their list was full or overcrowded, and with increasing size and central localization of the municipality.

Interpretation: A large proportion of RGPs do not work out-of-hours in emergency services.