“A free choice of primary care provider and freedom of establishment for accredited primary care providers is nationally mandated in Sweden. There is no formal gatekeeping role in most regions and patients are free to contact specialists directly. Furthermore, a health care guarantee act stipulates maximum waiting times for a range of services. This is intended to strengthen the patient’s position in accessing services. The act describes a ‘0–7–90–90’ rule, meaning same day contact with the health care system; seeing a GP within seven days; consulting a specialist within 90 days; and waiting for no more than 90 days after being diagnosed to receive treatment. However, compliance with this waiting time guarantee varies largely across the country and no region has fully been able to meet these rules (see Section 5.2).”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2017), Sweden: Country Health Profile 2017, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264283572-en
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/sweden-country-health-profile-2017_9789264283572-en