The Supply of Health Services in Colombia, 2012-2013

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine the current status of the supply of health services in Colombia, by examining differences among regions, regimes and the legal status of providers. Of the 1,124 municipalities in Colombia, 45% only have public IPS of low and medium complexity and only provide, on average, 18 of the 234 available health services. In fact, 76% of Colombian departments offered only between 11 and 40 services. Variables such as travel costs, the fre- quency with which services are required and the ability of providers to meet emergencies, need to be considered when evaluating the relationship between the distribution of services across the country and the quality of health care.