The Development of a New Care Service Landscape in Norway

Abstract

Demographic changes, as well as the transfer of medical and caring tasks from specialist to primary care in Norwegian municipali- ties, have led to changes in care service delivery. So far, we have limited knowledge of how this affects the design of the care services. Based on a semi-structured questionnaire survey, this article presents the development of a new care service landscape in Norway, where municipalities increasingly set up specialized care services for different patient groups and their care needs. This leads to a continuum of care service models from a generalist approach to highly specialized care services. Larger municipalities typically have a higher degree of specialization, indicating that volume is an important prerequisite for specialization. Similarly, a higher degree of specialization corresponds to higher formal competen- cies in the workforce. To understand the development of the services and the impact on care service delivery, further research is required.