From bureaucratic administration to effective intervention: Comparing early governmental responses to the COVID-19 virus across East Asian and western health systems.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 created dangerous public health conditions which pressured governments and health systems to respond in a rapid and effective manner. However, this type of rapid response required many governments to bypass standing; bureaucratic structures of health sector administration and political governance to quickly take; essential measures against a rapidly evolving public health threat. Each government's particular; configuration of governmental and health system decision-making created specific structural and functional challenges to these necessary centrally developed and coordinated strategies. Most East Asian governments (except Japan) succeeded relatively quickly in centralizing essential disease control and treatment initiatives in a timely manner. In contrast, a number of European countries, especially those with predominantly tax-based financing and politically managed health delivery systems, had greater difficulty in escaping bureaucratic governance and management constraints. Drawing on data about these governments' early stage COVID-19 control experiences, this article suggests that structural changes will be necessary if low-performing governments are to better respond to a pandemic. This paper also summarizes other relatively successful strategies. By adopting such strategies, nations can help overcome structural bureaucratic and administrative obstacles in responding to further waves of COVID-19 or similar future pandemic events.

Can Asia provide models for tax-based European health systems? A comparative study of Singapore and Sweden.

Singapore's health system generates similar levels of health outcomes as does Sweden's but for only 4.4% rather than 11.0% of gross domestic product, with Singapore's resulting health sector savings being re-directed to help fund both long-term care and retirement pensions for its elderly citizens. This paper contrasts the framework of financial risk-sharing and the configuration and management of health service providers in these two high-income, small-population countries. Two main institutional distinctions emerge from this country case comparison: (1) Key differences exist in the practical configuration of solidarity for payment of health care services, reflecting differing cultural roots and social expectations, which in turn carry substantial implications for financing long-term care and pensions. (2) Differing arrangements exist in the organization of health service institutions, in particular balancing public as against private sector responsibilities for owning, operating and managing these two countries' respective hospitals. These different structural characteristics generate fundamental differences in health sector financial and delivery outcomes in one developed country in Far East Asia as compared with a well-respected tax-funded health system in Western Europe. In the post-COVID era, as Western European policymakers find themselves forced to adjust their publicly funded health systems to (further) reductions in economic growth rates and overall tax receipts, and as the cost of the information revolution continues to rise while efforts to fund better coordinated social and home care services for growing numbers of chronically ill elderly remain inadequate, this two-country case comparison highlights a series of health system design questions that could potentially provide alternative health sector financing and service delivery strategies.

An important new health policy voice.

In the 10 years since its founding, the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research has established itself as an important voice in Israeli and international health policy. The Journal's ability to combine national and international perspectives on key issues in health services delivery and health systems analysis has developed a valuable new arena for academic research about the increasingly complex post-COVID future of health care systems.

Policy Lessons From Early Reactions to the COVID-19 Virus in China.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 virus outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020. Although the Chinese central government implemented significant measures to control the epidemic from January 20 within China, the crisis had already escalated dramatically.Between December 1, 2019, and January 20, 2020, a total of 51 days passed before the Chinese central government took full control. Several major factors combined to cause what had been in retrospect a clear break in the governmental information chain between December 1 and January 20. The management of this epidemic also illustrated key organizational limitations of the current Chinese health system, in particular provincial-level senior officials' lack of knowledge and awareness of potential public health risks and insufficient emergency medical material storage and logistics arrangements.We review the specific disease control actions that the Chinese central government took between January 20 and January 27, the major reasons why the governmental information chain had broken before January 20, and key structural health system limitations highlighted as the epidemic expanded.

Strategies for Delivering Value-Based Care: Do Care Management Practices Improve Hospital Performance?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Value-based payment has the potential to rein in the volume incentive inherent in fee-for-service payment by holding providers accountable for the quality of patient care they deliver. Success under the new payment structure will depend on how effectively key organizational reforms are embraced by providers in the implementation of quality improvement processes for care delivery. This study examined the relationship between implementation of care management processes (CMPs, the specific tactics that enable the practice of value-based care) and hospital performance under value-based payment. Using the American Hospital Association's Survey of Care Systems and Payment and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Hospital Compare, we estimated the relationship between hospital implementation of CMPs and performance as it relates to spending, patient satisfaction, readmission reduction, value-based purchasing, and clinical care outcomes. We found that hospitals increased implementation of CMPs from 2013 to 2014, which has led to modest changes in performance. We concluded that care coordination is associated with greater improvements in hospital performance. However, the long-term effects of resulting changes in care delivery may differ from the short-term effects. Thus, study findings underscore the importance of continued evaluation of care management practice as a strategy for optimizing delivery of high-quality, efficient patient care.

Establishing Appropriate Agency Relationships for Providers in China.

Physicians play multiple roles in a health system. They typically serve simultaneously as the agent for patients, for insurers, for their own medical practices, and for the hospital facilities where they practice. Theoretical and empirical results have demonstrated that financial relations among these different stakeholders can affect clinical outcomes as well as the efficiency and quality of care. What are the physicians' roles as the agents of Chinese patients? The marketization approach of China's economic reforms since 1978 has made hospitals and physicians profit-driven. Such profit-driven behavior and the financial tie between hospitals and physicians have in turn made physicians more the agents of hospitals rather than of their patients. While this commentary acknowledges physicians' ethics and their dedication to their patients, it argues that the current physician agency relation in China has created barriers to achieving some of the central goals of current provider-side health care reform efforts. In addition to eliminating existing perverse financial incentives for both hospitals and physicians, the need for which is already agreed upon by numerous scholars, we argue that the success of the ongoing Chinese public hospital reform and of overall health care reform also relies on establishing appropriate physician-hospital agency relations. This commentary proposes 2 essential steps to establish such physician-hospital agency relations: (1) minimize financial ties between senior physicians and tertiary-level public hospitals by establishing a separate reimbursement system for senior physicians, and (2) establishing a comprehensive physician professionalism system underwritten by the Chinese government, professional physician associations, and major health care facilities as well as by physician leadership representatives. Neither of these suggestions is addressed adequately in current health care reform activities.

Structural effects of the information revolution on tax-funded European health systems and some potential policy responses.

The ongoing information revolution has re-configured the policymaking arena for tax-funded health systems in Europe. A combination of constrained public revenues with rapid technological and clinical change has created a particularly demanding set of operational challenges. Tax-funded health systems face three ongoing struggles: 1) finding badly needed new public revenues despite inadequate GDP growth 2) channeling additional funds into new high-quality provider capacity 3) re-configuring the stasis-tied organizational structure and operations of existing public providers. This commentary reviews key elements of this new information-revolution-driven context, followed by a consideration of seven specific policy challenges that it creates and/or worsens for tax-funded European systems going forward.

The impact of slow economic growth on health sector reform: a cross-national perspective.

This paper assesses recent health sector reform strategies across Europe adopted since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. It begins with a brief overview of the continued economic pressure on public funding for health care services, particularly in tax-funded Northern European health care systems. While economic growth rates across Europe have risen a bit in the last year, they remain below the level necessary to provide the needed expansion of public health sector revenues. This continued public revenue shortage has become the central challenge that policymakers in these health systems confront, and increasingly constrains their potential range of policy options. The paper then examines the types of targeted reforms that various European governments have introduced in response to this increased fiscal stringency. Particularly in tax-funded health systems, these efforts have been focused on two types of changes on the production side of their health systems: consolidating and/or centralizing administrative authority over public hospitals, and revamping secondary and primary health services as well as social services to reduce the volume, cost and less-than-optimal outcomes of existing public elderly care programs. While revamping elderly care services also was pursued in the social health insurance (SHI) system in the Netherlands, both the Dutch and the German health systems also made important changes on the financing side of their health systems. Both types of targeted reforms are illustrated through short country case studies. Each of these country assessments flags up new mechanisms that have been introduced and which potentially could be reshaped and applied in other national health sector contexts. Reflecting the tax-funded structure of the Canadian health system, the preponderance of cases discussed focus on tax-funded countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, England, Ireland), with additional brief assessments of recent changes in the SHI-funded health systems in the Netherlands and Germany. The paper concludes that post-2008 European reforms have helped stretch existing public funds more effectively, but seem unlikely to resolve the core problem of inadequate overall public funding, particularly in tax-based health systems. This observation suggests that ongoing Canadian efforts to consolidate and better integrate its health care providers, while important, may not eliminate long-term health sector-funding dilemmas.

Оценка ведения хронических заболеваний в европейских системах здравоохранения: Принципы и подходы

Растущее бремя хронических заболеваний, в частности быстрое увеличение числа людей с множественной патологией, – сложная проблема для систем здравоохранения во всех странах мира. Связанные с этим реждевременная смертность и сниженное физическое функционирование, а также повышенный спрос на услуги здравоохранения и сопряженные с этим расходы – лишь некоторые из основных причин для беспокойства у лиц, принимающих решения, и специалистов практического звена. Назрела явная необходимость переформатировать системы медико-санитарной помощи для более полного удовлетворения потребностей при хронических заболеваниях, что предполагает переход от традиционной модели оказания помощи при острых и эпизодических проблемах со здоровьем к модели, позволяющей лучше координировать работу специалистов и учреждений при активном участии самих получателей услуг и лиц, ухаживающих за ними. Многие страны уже начали работать в этом направлении, однако испытывают трудности с выбором наилучшего из возможных подходов: модели оказания помощи сильно зависят от местныхусловий, а научных оценок эффективности таких подходов пока нет. Оценка ведения хронических заболеваний в европейских системах здравоохранения рассматривает ряд ключевых вопросов – от интерпретации имеющейся базы фактических данных до оценки политического контекста и подходов к ведению хронических больных в Европе. По данным из 12 подробных отчетов о ситуации встранах (см. второй том в интернете), авторы исследования представляют глубокий анализ целого ряда моделей оказания помощи и функций вовлеченного в этот процесс персонала, механизмов оплаты и доступа пользователей к услугам, а также трудностей, которые страны вынуждены преодолевать в процессе внедрения и оценки этих новых подходов. В основу этой книги легли выводы проекта DISMEVAL (Разработка и подтверждение эффективности методов оценки ведения больных в европейских системах здравоохранения), осуществляемого под руководством исследовательского института RAND Europe и финансируемого за счет средств Седьмой рамочной программы (FP7) Европейского союза (Соглашение № 223277).

Организация первичной помощи в условиях меняющейся Европы

Для многих граждан первичное звено медико-санитарной помощи – это первая точка соприкосновения с системой медицинского обслуживания, где люди получают большую часть необходимой им помощи, но также могут быть направлены на другие уровни системы. Таким образом, первичное звено оказывает огромное влияние на то, как пациенты оценивают систему здравоохранения с точки зрения ее соответствия своим нуждам и ожиданиям. Авторы книги анализируют особенности организации и оказания первичной медико-санитарной помощи в странах Европейского региона с точки зрения руководства, финансирования, кадрового обеспечения и спектра услуг. В книге описаны особенности доступа к первичному звену и преемственности и координации его услуг в различных странах. Сопоставляя эти различия с конечными показателями здоровья населения, авторы предлагают приоритетные шаги для сокращения разрыва между идеальной системой и реальностью. Помимо этого, авторы проанализировали накопленные данные о дополнительных преимуществах, которые крепкое первичное звено дает для общей эффективности системы здравоохранения, а также то, как на первичное звено влияют финансовые трудности, новые угрозы для здоровья и структура заболеваемости, динамика кадровых ресурсов и новые возможности, которые открывает технологический прогресс. Во втором томе публикации, с которым можно ознакомиться в интернете, приводятся структурированные сводные обзоры состояния первичной медико-санитарной помощи в 31 стране Европейского региона. В них описан контекст, в котором работает первичное звено в каждой из этих стран; особенности стратегического руководства и экономическая ситуация; динамика в отношении кадровых ресурсов для первичного звена; специфика оказания первичной медико-санитарной помощи; качество и эффективность системы первичной медико-санитарной помощи. В основе настоящей публикации лежит проект "Мониторинг первичной медико-санитарной помощи в Европе" (PHAMEU), который проводился под руководством Нидерландского института исследований служб здравоохранения (NIVEL) на средства ЕС и Европейской комиссии (Генеральный директорат по здравоохранению и защите прав потребителей).

Re-thinking barriers to organizational change in public hospitals.

Public hospitals are well known to be difficult to reform. This paper provides a comprehensive six-part analytic framework that can help policymakers and managers better shape their organizational and institutional behavior. The paper first describes three separate structural characteristics which, together, inhibit effective problem description and policy design for public hospitals. These three structural constraints are i) the dysfunctional characteristics found in most organizations, ii) the particular dysfunctions of professional health sector organizations, and iii) the additional dysfunctional dimensions of politically managed organizations. While the problems in each of these three dimensions of public hospital organization are well-known, and the first two dimensions clearly affect private as well as publicly run hospitals, insufficient attention has been paid to the combined impact of all three factors in making public hospitals particularly difficult to manage and steer. Further, these three structural dimensions interact in an institutional environment defined by three restrictive context limitations, again two of which also affect private hospitals but all three of which compound the management dilemmas in public hospitals. The first contextual limitation is the inherent complexity of delivering high quality, safe, and affordable modern inpatient care in a hospital setting. The second contextual limitation is a set of specific market failures in public hospitals, which limit the scope of the standard financial incentives and reform measures. The third and last contextual limitation is the unique problem of generalized and localized anxiety, which accompanies the delivery of medical services, and which suffuses decision-making on the part of patients, medical staff, hospital management, and political actors alike. This combination of six institutional characteristics - three structural dimensions and three contextual dimensions - can help explain why public hospitals are different in character from other parts of the public sector, and the scale of the challenge they present to political decision-makers.

Uncomfortable realities: the challenge of creating real change in Europe's consolidating hospital sector.

BACKGROUND: This article examines uncomfortable realities that the European hospital sector currently faces and the potential impact of wide-spread rationalization policies such as (hospital) payment reform and privatization. METHODS: Review of relevant international literature. RESULTS: Based on the evidence we present, rationalization policies such as (hospital) payment reform and privatization will probably fall short in delivering better quality of care and lower growth in health expenses. Reasons can be sought in a mix of evidence on the effectiveness of these rationalization policies. Nevertheless, pressures for different business models will gradually continue to increase and it seems safe to assume that more value-added process business and facilitated network models will eventually emerge. CONCLUSIONS: The overall argument of this article holds important implications for future research: how can policymakers generate adequate leverage to introduce such changes without destroying necessary hospital capacity and the ability to produce quality healthcare.

Health reform in Finland: current proposals and unresolved challenges.

The Finnish health care system is widely respected for its pilot role in creating primary-care-led health systems. In the early 1990s, however, a severe economic downturn in Finland reduced public funding and weakened the Finnish system's deeply decentralized model of health care administration. Recent Bank of Finland projections forecasting several decades of slow economic growth, combined with the impact of an aging population, appear to make major reform of the existing public system inevitable. Over the last several years, political attention has focused mostly on administrative consolidation inside the public sector, particularly integration of health and social services. Current proposals call for a reformed health sector governance structure based on a new meso-level configuration of public administration. In addition, Finland's national government has proposed replacing the current multi-channel public funding structure (which includes health insurance subsidies for occupational health services) with a single-channel public funding structure. This commentary examines several key issues involved in reforming the delivery structure of the Finnish health care system. It also explores possible alternative strategies to reform current funding arrangements. The article concludes with a brief discussion of implications from this Finnish experience for the wider health reform debate.

Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models.

A central problem in designing effective models of provider governance in health systems has been to ensure an appropriate balance between the concerns of public sector and/or government decision-makers, on the one hand, and of non-governmental health services actors in civil society and private life, on the other. In tax-funded European health systems up to the 1980s, the state and other public sector decision-makers played a dominant role over health service provision, typically operating hospitals through national or regional governments on a command-and-control basis. In a number of countries, however, this state role has started to change, with governments first stepping out of direct service provision and now de facto pushed to focus more on steering provider organizations rather than on direct public management. In this new approach to provider governance, the state has pulled back into a regulatory role that introduces market-like incentives and management structures, which then apply to both public and private sector providers alike. This article examines some of the main operational complexities in implementing this new governance reality/strategy, specifically from a service provision (as opposed to mostly a financing or even regulatory) perspective. After briefly reviewing some of the key theoretical dilemmas, the paper presents two case studies where this new approach was put into practice: primary care in Sweden and hospitals in Spain. The article concludes that good governance today needs to reflect practical operational realities if it is to have the desired effect on health sector reform outcome.

Health sector solidarity: a core European value but with broadly varying content.

Although the concept of solidarity sits at the center of many European health sector debates, the specific groups eligible for coverage, the financing arrangements, and the range of services and benefits that, together, compose the operational content of solidarity have all changed considerably over time. In prior economic periods, solidarity covered considerably fewer services or groups of the population than it does today. As economic and political circumstances changed, the content of solidarity changed with them. Recent examples of these shifts are illustrated through a discussion of health reforms in Netherlands, Germany and also Israel (although not in Europe, the Israeli health system is similar in structure to European social health insurance systems). This article suggests that changed economic circumstances in Europe since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis may lead to re-configuring the scope and content of services covered by solidarity in many European health systems. A key issue for policymakers will be protecting vulnerable populations as this re-design occurs.

Structural patterns in Swedish health policy: a 30-year perspective.

This perspective reviews key institutional and organizational patterns in Swedish health care over the last 30 years, probing the roots of several complicated policy questions that concern present-day Swedish decision-makers. It explores in particular the ongoing structural tension between stability, on the one hand, and the necessary levels of innovation and dynamism demanded by the current period of major clinical, technological, economic, social and supranational (EU) change. Where useful, the article compares Swedish developments with those in the other three European Nordic countries as well as other northern European health systems. Sweden's health sector evolution can provide valuable insight for other countries into the complexity involved in re-thinking tradeoffs between policies that emphasize stability as against those that encourage innovation in health sector governance and provision.

Building primary care in a changing Europe: case studies

This new volume consists of structured case studies summarizing the state of primary care in 31 European countries. It complements the previous study, Building primary care in a changing Europe, in which we provided an overview of the state of primary care across the continent, including aspects of governance, financing, workforce and details of service profiles. These case studies establish the context of primary care in each country; the key governance and economic conditions; the development of the primary care workforce; how primary care services are delivered; and an assessment of the quality and efficiency of the primary-care system. The studies exemplify the broad national variations in accessibility, continuity and coordination of primary care in Europe today, something which complicates the assessment of primary care's role in contributing to the overall performance of the health system despite growing evidence of the added value of a strong primary care sector. This book builds on the EU-funded project 'Primary Health Care Activity Monitor for Europe' (PHAMEU) that was led by the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) and co-funded by the European Commission (Directorate General Health & Consumers).