Number of residents covered by a general practitioner or general specialist
This indicator for density of medical care provision measures the average number of residents that a general practitioner or general specialist looks after in a county.
It is a benchmark for the quality of medical care provision.
General specialists include eye specialists, surgeons, gynaecologists, skin specialists, ear, nose and throat specialists, neurologists, orthopaedic doctors, psychotherapists, urologists and paediatricians. Internists, such as cardiologists or gastroenterologists, do not belong to the group of general specialists and are therefore not displayed in the chart.
In counties, smaller towns that do not belong to a district with populations of less than 100,000 are merged with the surrounding districts. The data is based on information from the German Physician’s Registry (Bundesarztregister) that records all doctors and psychotherapists in Germany who work in the statutory health insurance scheme. This data is also the basis for needs planning in the healthcare system aiming at a balanced provision of general practitioners and specialists.