European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

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• The Lancet Series on Europe
  30-04-2013
  The Lancet Series on Europe provides a comprehensive examination of some of the most important issues affecting the health of people in Europe today. Seven Series papers, cover a diverse range of subjects, from how the financial crisis is affecting health in Europe, to whether children's health services are keeping pace with the changing landscape of child health. 
• Governance under review
  19-04-2013
  The changing national role in health system governance is a new book which addresses some key issues in the role national governments play or need to play in the governance of health care.
• Apply now for Summer School on innovation in population health
  11-04-2013
  The Observatory Summer School will take place in Venice, 21–27 July 2013.
• Just published: Successes and Failures of Health Policy in Europe: Four decades of divergent trends and converging challenges
  04-04-2013
  In the last 40 years, the health of Europeans overall has improved markedly, yet progress has been very uneven from country to country. Now a new study, Successes and Failures of Health Policy in Europe: Four Decades of Divergent Trends and Converging Challenges, draws on decades of research to examine the impact health policy has had on population health in Europe.  
• Health in Latvia
  25-03-2013
  The new HiT (Health Systems in Transition) health system review for Latvia has just been released. The Latvian health system, based on general tax-financed statutory health care provision, provides coverage to the entire population and access to a basic service package, but still leaves patients exposed to substantial user charges and direct payments. The financial crisis means the government faces a huge struggle to prevent deterioration of the health status. Important reforms such as moving service provision away from hospital care, and increasing provision of ambulatory care have been implemented successfully, along with a social safety net to protect the poor from the negative consequences of user charges. But the lack of financial resources poses the main challenge, and an increase in public expenditure is needed to ensure adequate funding of the health service.
• New Eurohealth on governing public hospitals
  22-03-2013
  This issue’s Eurohealth Observer section looks at governing public hospitals. The overview article discusses innovative strategies in governing public hospitals. Four case study articles are then presented focusing on autonomous hospitals in Spain, governance arrangements in the Netherlands, legal forms of hospitals in the Czech Republic, and decentralisation in Norway. Other articles include: A nudge in the wrong direction; Addressing critical health workforce challenges; Pay-for-performance in FYR Macedonia; Reform in the Bulgarian pharmaceutical sector; and Eurohealth Monitor. 
• European reference networks in health care
  01-03-2013
  The new study "Building European reference networks in health care" describes how the concept of reference centres and networks is being used at national and regional level and outlines the key policy implications and challenges for building them at a European level.
• Strengthening health protection in times of economic crisis: strengthening the evidence base
  12-02-2013
  This workshop, organized by the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) and the Observatory, aims to explore the role of evidence in strengthening and promoting public health in the context of the economic crisis. The workshop will take place at the European Parliament, Room ASP A5E-2, on 21 February 2013, 14.30-17.00h.
• The Canadian way
  23-01-2013
  The new HiT (Health Systems in Transition) health system review for Canada has just been released. In Canada there has been a major reinvestment in public health since the cuts of the early to mid-1990s. The last 2 decades have produced a dense network of intergovernmental agencies, and while collaboration has succeeded in some areas (e.g. ensuring universal accessibility to hospital and physician services), it has been less effective in other areas (e.g. more effective use of IT). The Canadian government has focused on improving the timeliness, quality and safety of health care, and this has resulted in more doctors and nurses as well as an increase in the proportion of both, relative to the general population. In addition, governments have invested heavily in capital infrastructure including medical equipment, and recently, there have been improvements in quality outcomes as well as reductions in waiting times, although primary care performance remains weak in Canada.
• Home care study published
  21-01-2013
   There is a lack of up-to-date and comparative information on home care in Europe. This volume attempts to fill some of that gap by examining current European policy on home care services and strategies and by looking at some of the challenges posed by developments in society.
• Russian-language translation of review of Kazakstan's health system published
  18-01-2013
  The new HiT (Health Systems in Transition) health system review for Kazakhstan has just been released. Since becoming independent, Kazakhstan has undertaken major efforts in reforming its health system. Two comprehensive reform programmes have been developed in the last decade, and there has been progress on promoting evidence-based medicine and developing and introducing new clinical practice guidelines, as well as facility-level quality improvements. However, as this publication shows, key aspects of health system performance are still in need of improvement. A key challenge is regional inequities in health financing, health care utilization and health outcomes, although some improvements have been achieved in recent years.
• Baltic policy dialogue explores hospital-sector reform
  15-01-2013
  Senior representatives of the health ministries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania recently took part in the 9th Baltic policy dialogue, focusing on hospital financing and governance as ways to support the rationalization of hospital care and improvement of performance.