OBJECTIVES : Waiting lists are subject to interest worldwide. In previous years, the Hungarian waiting list system were criticized by the public, due to the long waiting list. In 2015, the National Health Insurance Fund Administration established a waiting list reduction program with the aim to significantly shorten waiting list cases. The goal of the study is to analyze the territorial distribution of cases related to cataract waiting list.

METHODS : The database covered the period of 2015-2018, and contained all public-funded cases, which were financed in the above-mentioned program. The database also contained information about the patients’ place of residence, the localization of responsible healthcare institutes, as well as the distance between the responsible hospitals and the patients’ place of residence. The database was provided by the National Health Insurance Fund Administration of Hungary, and the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. For the statistical analyzes and the geographical representations the Microsoft Excel and the Quantum GIS software were used.

RESULTS : The market share of cases related to cataract waiting list was 46% (number of cases: 11,409) from the all financed cases in the waiting list reduction program. Most of the cases were provided by the town hospitals (4,608). The number of cases in Baranya county was the highest (2,099), and 98% of these cases the patients’ county of residence was the same as the responsible healthcare institution (number of cases: 2,073). The number of cases reflected to 10,000 inhabitants in Baranya county was the highest (14.29 cases) among Hungarian counties.

CONCLUSIONS : The majority of cases were treated in the patients’ county of residence. Cataract surgery is available at many town hospitals in Hungary, so patients have an opportunity to get their treatment closer to their homes.