ABSTRACT
In 1961 Roemer examined the relation between the supply of hospital beds and hospital admission rates, which resulted in the formulation of his well-known law: 'A built bed is a filled bed'. The Greek health care system had been traditionally based on the Bismarck model, as it was partly financed by social health insurance. Greece faces the same health problems as most European countries: rising health care costs, changing disease patterns and an aging population. The Greek health care system, and the hospital sector in particular, is undergoing changes, with the introduction of hospital managers, the reduction of hospital beds, the unification of health funds and so on. The development of primary health care is a top priority in the recent health care legislation of 2001, which reinforces the system of family doctors and the establishment of primary care networks.
