Health Governance In Europe

Focussing on the health sector, this book analyses the closely interwoven relationship between the European Union and Member States.

Health system governance in Europe : the role of European Union law and policy / Elias Mossialos ... [et al.] -- Health care and the EU : the law and policy patchwork / Tamara Hervey and Bart Vanhercke -- EU regulatory agencies and health protection / Govin Permanand and Ellen Vos -- The hard politics of soft law : the case of health / Scott L. Greer and Bart Vanhercke -- Public health policies / Martin McKee, Tamara Hervey and Anna Gilmore -- Fundamental rights and health care / Jean McHale -- EU competition law and public services / Tony Prosser -- EU competition law and health policy / Julia Lear, Elias Mossialos and Beatrix Karl -- Public procurement and state aid in national health care systems / Vassilis Hatzopoulos --Private health insurance and the internal market / Sarah Thomson and Elias Mossialos -- Free movement of services in the EU and health care / Wouter Gekiere, Rita Baeten and Willy Palm -- Enabling patient mobility in the EU : between free movement and coordination / Willy Palm and Irene A. Glinos -- The EU legal network on e-health / Stefaan Callens -- EU law and health professionals / Miek Peeters, Martin McKee and Sherry Merkur -- The EU pharmaceuticals market : parameters and pathways / Leigh Hancher

There is a fundamental contradiction at the core of health policy in the EU that makes it difficult to draw a line between EU and Member State responsibilities. This raises a number of difficult questions for policy makers and practitioners as they struggle to interpret both 'hard' and 'soft' laws at EU and Member State level and to reconcile tensions between economic and social imperatives in health care. The book addresses these complex questions by combining analysis of the underlying issues with carefully chosen case studies that illustrate how broader principles are played out in practice. Each chapter addresses a topical area in which there is considerable debate and potential uncertainty. The book thus offers a comprehensive discussion of a number of current and emerging governance issues in EU health policy, including regulatory, legal, 'new governance' and policy-making dynamics, and the application of the legal framework in these areas.

Countries in Europe have long recognized that good health care, though essential, is not in itself sufficient to improve health or to reduce the increasing gaps in health status between the rich and the poor. In 1984, together with WHO, they adopted and many attempted actively to implement, what has become known as the health for all policy. This called for a radical shift from health services planning to an approach based on setting objectives and targets for health, requiring partnerships with industry, agriculture and commerce and settings such as workplaces and schools. It also required changes in behaviour and action to ensure a fairer distribution of the determinants of health, such as income, education, employment opportunities, and adequate food and housing. This volume provides a broad overview of how the 51 countries in the WHO European Region set about this ambitious task. The study's findings are based on replies to checklists sent to the Member States, a set of country profiles (given as an annex), published policy documents, and case studies written by people who were involved in the process in their own countries or regions. Examining how countries used some of the policy instruments open to them as they strove to close the health gaps, the study explores how far the rhetoric was accompanied by the necessary action and whether countries were able to move from their traditional ways of working, and poses questions as to whether this approach will be sufficient to meet the challenges of the future.

This book provides a systematic collection of EU actors, EU policy and EU actions in global health. It answers key questions on governance of the EU and its policy processes. The book starts with an introduction to the EU as a global actor and continues to outline the historical development and the Treaty basis for health, including the Maastricht and Lisbon Treaties. It also discusses the Commission's global health communication and the subsequent Council Conclusions on global health. Both documents define EU values in global health and identify the future priorities for global health action in the EU. Four of the five priorities are then described from the perspective of a different country experience. The book also considers the opportunities for research and provides an overview of the political, legal and financial instruments available to the EU. It also explores the global health architecture and processes within which the EU is acting, namely at the WHO, in the different multilateral organizations, and in global public health international treaties and regulations. Finally, the book addresses the importance of policy coherence at a national level and provides critical viewpoint on the EU as a global health actor. The book will assist practitioners working in policy making and international negotiations affecting health, as well as students and researchers, to create a better understanding of the European Union, its role in global health, and the uniqueness and specificity of the EU as a global health actor. It provides an overview of how the EU can act in global health and outlines the intersections of health and other sectors, as well as the instruments available to the EU to act effectively at a global level. The collection of contributions in this form and from this health policy perspective are not yet found elsewhere on the market.

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.

"This study provides an overview of recent changes in national government's role in the governance of health systems in 12 countries. Country assessments focus on recent efforts to reconfigure responsibilities for health policy regulation and management; the resultant policy priorities; and the initial impact" --Executive summary.

Highly Commended in Health and Social Care in the 2017 BMA Medical Book Awards. Governance is the systematic, patterned way in which decisions are made and implemented. The governance of a health system therefore shapes its ability to respond to the various well-documented challenges that health systems face today, and its capacity to cope with both everyday challenges and new policies and problems. This book provides a robust framework that identifies five key aspects of governance, distilled from a large body of literature, that are important in explaining the ability of health systems to provide accessible, high-quality, sustainable health. These five aspects are transparency, accountability, participation, organizational integrity and policy capacity. Part 1 of this book explains the significance of this framework, drawing out strategies for health policy success and lessons for more effective governance. Part 2 then turns to explore eight case studies in a number of different European regions applying the framework to a range of themes including communicable diseases, public-private partnerships, governing competitive insurance market reform, the role of governance in the pharmaceutical sector, and many more. The book explores how: - Transparency, accountability, participation, integrity and capacity are key aspects of health governance and shape decision making and implementation - There is no simply “good” governance that can work everywhere; every aspect of governance involves costs and benefits. Context is crucial. - Governance can explain policy success and failure, so it should be analysed and in some cases changed as part of policy formation and preparation. - Some policies simply exceed the governance capacity of their systems and should be avoided. This book is designed for health policy makers and all those working or studying in the areas of public health, health research or health economics.