Abstract Body

Background. The health services can be organized in several ways. The most important distinction is between tax-funded collective services like the British NHS developed after World War II and services organized in a free market as in the US. In Norway, which developed a healthcare system that resembled the NHS, general practitioners continue to play a key role.

Material and methods. We completed a scoping review and looked at different ways to organize the health services, with emphasis on the role of GPs.

Results. In open healthcare markets, patients can seek all types of services directly, including specialized and costly services and examinations without prior GP assessment. The disadvantages of this are, among other, increased costs for society, more poorly justified medical tests and sub-optimal prioritization of the total health service resources. In the tax-funded collective services in Norway, all residents are on a list for a specific GP. The GP's task is to be the first contact with the health service for all and to clarify whether more advanced specialized examinations are needed. The benefits of this are many, reducing the overall cost of the society, protects the patients for unnecessary, unpleasant and time-consuming examinations, level out social inequalities in access to health care, and ensure that disease is treated at the lowest effective level of care.

Conclusion. Health care should be public, tax funded with the GP in a central position.