The health care reform in Portugal: Outcomes from both the New Public Management and the economic crisis

The Portuguese health system concentrates most of its activity in a National Health Service, created in 1979 to promote universal and general access. The National Health Service should ensure equity, efficiency, and quality of all health care delivered services. This study assesses the impact of health care policies between 2002 and 2017, focusing on 3 timeframes: the adoption and adaptation of New Public Management principles to the health care sector (2002 to 2010), the economic and financial crisis period (2011‐2015), and the postcrisis recovery period (2016‐2017). The current study evaluates the main policy measures in the health sector, presenting their impacts in terms of access, efficiency, accountability, and costs over those 3 economic periods. It was verified that not all the measures implemented by the successive governments obtained the desired outcomes, generating even costs increase, apart from the austerity period in which health expenditure showed a significant reduction because of the financial constraints.     

Exploring health care reform in a changing Europe: Lessons from Greece

Abstract

The economic crisis is the major theme in the Eurozone and its impact on public health and outcomes is largely discussed. Under this pressure, concerns of further inequalities exist that may have an impact on the burden of several diseases in certain European countries. In this context, Greece is currently an issue of top interest in any international economic discussion. Although the background of the recession has been largely discussed as a political crisis, its health effects on the population, as well as the key role of primary care and general practice/family medicine in health care reform remain to be explored. Serving both the worldwide trend of orienting health care systems towards strengthened primary care and the inner need for minimizing the demand and lessening the burden from the dysfunctional and costly hospital-care system, the economic crisis sets the perfect timing for prioritizing primary health care. In this article a unique window of opportunity for health care reform in Greece is examined, attempting to establish the axes of an example of how health care system can be reshaped amidst the economic crisis. Equity, quality, value framework, medical professionalism, information technology and decentralization emerge as topics of central interest. There is no doubt that Europe is transitioning under challenging social, economic and public health perspectives. However, taking Greece as an example, the current economic situation sets a good timing for health care reform and the key messages of this paper could be used by other countries facing similar problems.     

Public versus private health care in a national health service

This paper studies the interaction between public and private health care provision in a National Health Service (NHS), with free public care and costly private care. The health authority decides whether or not to allow private provision and sets the public sector remuneration. The physicians allocate their time (effort) in the public and (if allowed) in the private sector based on the public wage income and the private sector profits. We show that allowing physician dual practice 'crowds out' public provision, and results in lower overall health care provision. While the health authority can mitigate this effect by offering a higher wage, we find that a ban on dual practice is more efficient if private sector competition is weak and public and private care are sufficiently close substitutes. On the other hand, if private sector competition is sufficiently tough, a mixed system, with physician dual practice, is always preferable to a pure NHS system.     

Communities of solution: the Folsom Report revisited

Efforts to address the current fragmented US health care structure, including controversial federal reform, cannot succeed without a reinvigoration of community-centered health systems. A blueprint for systematic implementation of community services exists in the 1967 Folsom Report--calling for "communities of solution." We propose an updated vision of the Folsom Report for integrated and effective services, incorporating the principles of community-oriented primary care. The 21st century primary care physician must be a true public health professional, forming partnerships and assisting data sharing with community organizations to facilitate healthy changes. Current policy reform efforts should build upon Folsom Report's goal of transforming personal and population health.     

我国医疗体制改革的经济学分析

从公共经济学的视角,对我国医疗卫生体制改革失败的事实进行分析,得出我国医疗体制改革失败的根本原因在于市场与政府的双失灵.认为破解医改的难题,关键在于纠正市场与政府的双失灵.     

供给侧改革视角下的中国医改探索

2016年,我国医疗领域掀起对"医疗供给侧改革"的讨论热潮.阐述我国实施医疗供给侧改革的意义和策略;"健康中国"战略推进下我国医疗服务供给体系将面临深刻的结构性变革,供给侧改革思路将从构建能够合理分流患者的有序就医格局、以公立医院改革提高优质医疗资源服务质效、引入社会办医力量发展健康服务业三个方面入手引领中国医疗服务体系重构,同时支付制度改革引入预付制、卫生人力资源优化配置以及互联网医疗兴起都将配套医疗服务体系的供给侧改革,从而将以公立医院为主体、以疾病治疗为中心的诊疗模式转变为全面涵盖预防、体检、治疗、康复、健康管理等多环节、多流程的整合型医疗模式.     

Educational Inequalities in Hospital Use Among Older Adults in England, 2004-2015

Policy Points

• US policymakers considering proposals to expand public health care (such as “Medicare for all”) as a means of reducing inequalities in health care access and use could learn from the experiences of nations where well‐funded universal health care systems are already in place.
• In England, which has a publicly funded universal health care system, the use of core inpatient services by adults 65 years and older is equal across groups defined by education level, after controlling for health status. However, variation among these groups in the use of outpatient and emergency department care developed between 2010 and 2015, a period of relative financial austerity.
• Based on England''s experience, introducing universal health care in the United States seems likely to reduce, but not entirely eliminate, inequalities in health care use across different population groups.

ContextExpanding access to health care is once again high on the US political agenda, as is concern about those who are being “left behind.” But is universal health care that is largely free at the point of use sufficient to eliminate inequalities in health care use? To explore this question, we studied variation in the use of hospital care among education‐level‐defined groups of older adults in England, before and after controlling for differences in health status. In England, the National Health Service (NHS) provides health care free to all, but the growth rate for NHS funding has slowed markedly since 2010 during a widespread austerity program, potentially increasing inequalities in access and use.MethodsNovel linkage of data from six waves (2004‐2015) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) with participants’ hospital records (Hospital Episode Statistics [HES]) produced longitudinal data for 7,713 older adults (65 years and older) and 25,864 observations. We divided the sample into three groups by education level: low (no formal qualifications), mid (completed compulsory education), and high (at least some higher education). Four outcomes were examined: annual outpatient appointments, elective inpatient admissions, emergency inpatient admissions, and emergency department (ED) visits. We estimated regressions for the periods 2004‐2005 to 2008‐2009 and 2010‐2011 to 2014‐2015 to examine whether potential education‐related inequalities in hospital use increased after the growth rate for NHS funding slowed in 2010.FindingsFor the study period, our sample of ELSA respondents in the low‐education group made 2.44 annual outpatient visits. In comparison, after controlling for health status, we found that participants in the high‐education group made an additional 0.29 outpatient visits annually (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11‐0.47). Additional outpatient health care use in the high‐education group was driven by follow‐up and routine appointments. This inequality widened after 2010. Between 2010 and 2015, individuals in the high‐education group made 0.48 (95% CI, 0.21‐0.74) more annual outpatient visits than those in the low‐education (16.9% [7.5% to 26.2%] of annual average 2.82 visits). In contrast, after 2010, the high‐education group made 0.04 (95% CI, −0.075 to 0.001) fewer annual ED visits than the low‐education group, which had a mean of 0.30 annual ED visits. No significant differences by education level were found for elective or emergency inpatient admissions in either period.ConclusionsAfter controlling for demographics and health status, there was no evidence of inequality in elective and emergency inpatient admissions among the education groups in our sample. However, a period of financial budget tightening for the NHS after 2010 was associated with the emergence of education gradients in other forms of hospital care, with respondents in the high‐education group using more outpatient care and less ED care than peers in the low‐education group. These estimates point to rising inequalities in the use of hospital care that, if not reversed, could exacerbate existing health inequalities in England. Although the US and UK settings differ in many ways, our results also suggest that a universal health care system would likely reduce inequality in US health care use.     

Choice and solidarity: the health sector in Eastern Europe and proposals for reform

The citizens of Eastern Europe have witnessed an unprecedented social and economic transformation during the past decade of transition from socialism to market-based economies. We describe the legacy of socialism and summarize the current state of the health sector in ten Eastern European countries, including financing, delivery, purchasing, physician incomes and the widespread phenomenon of under-the-table payments. The proposals for reform, derived from explicit guiding principles, are based on organized public financing for basic care, private financing for supplementary care, pluralistic delivery of services, and managed competition, with attention to incentives and regulation to impose a constraint on overall health spending.     

“十二五”期间深化医药卫生体制改革规划述评

国务院颁布的《＂十二五＂期间深化医药卫生体制改革规划暨实施方案》紧密围绕2009年《中共中央国务院关于深化医药卫生体制改革的意见》精神,部署了今后四年我国深化医药卫生体制改革的具体任务和重点工作。《规划》为缩短我国卫生事业与经济发展的差距奠定了坚实的基础。     

Introduction of freedom of choice for hospital outpatient care in Portugal: Implications and results of the 2016 reform

In Portugal, the National Health Service (NHS) assures universal access to medical treatment and care that is free at the point of delivery – except for relatively small user charges. Freedom of choice is limited and competition between the public and the private sectors is almost non-existent. In May 2016, the Ministry of Health introduced a new law that facilitates the referral of NHS users from primary healthcare units to outpatient consultations in NHS hospitals outside of the referral area. However, for inpatient care, patients are still bound to receive treatment within their referral area, which is determined by place of residence. The aim of the reform was to provide a timelier response to citizens' health needs and to increase efficiency. According to preliminary data from June 2016 to May 2017, 10.6% of all outpatient referrals from NHS primary health care units were made to an NHS hospital out of the referral area, with the highest proportion in the Lisbon (15.8%) region. In general, median waiting time for first outpatient consultation increased after the introduction of choice in the five specialties with the highest proportions of out-of-area referrals - but it reduced in two departments with the longest waiting times prior to the reform. The reform constitutes a major change to the relationship between NHS hospitals, with foreseeable consequences in hospital funding and the patients' perception of hospital quality.     

Citizens' Views on Health Care Systems in the 15 Member States of The European Union

This paper provides an initial analysis of a Eurobarometer/LSE survey on citizens' views on health care systems which was conducted in the 15 European Union Member States in 1996. It examines and discusses citizens' satisfaction with the running of health care, their views towards major health care reforms and attitudes on health care spending. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

美国退伍军人医疗服务系统改革综述与经验分析

20世纪90年代中后期美国最大的公立医疗体系——退伍军人医疗服务系统进行了全面的改革,并在临床服务、患者满意度、运行效率和费用控制等方面迅速达到行业领先水平。通过对文献的综述和分析,本文认为美国退伍军人医疗服务系统改革的成功有两方面原因：宏观方面,组织结构的区域性整合与按人头支付的方式相结合,产生了加强预防保健和提升医疗质量的激励机制;微观方面,以绩效监测为手段改革管理机制．应用了适应临床需求的信息技术系统,服务重点从专科住院治疗快速转为初级保健。文章还讨论了其对我国公立医院改革的启示：公立医院改革的核心是建立责权统一的管理结构,而非产权变革;进一步整合的组织结构与按人头支付的方式相结合,可能创造出维护健康的激励机制;在把握宏观改革方向的基础上,科学的绩效管理方法、信息化技术和初级保健能够为医院发展和医疗卫生服务体系的快速转型发挥巨大的推动作用一     

山东省农村卫生室现状抽样调查(三)--村卫生室参与预防保健服务提供及其制约因素分析

分析当前村卫生室参与预防保健服务情况。在调查的83个村卫生室中发现,有70.0%左右的村卫生室不参与提供预防保健和公共卫生服务项目。主要制约因素是:村卫生室没有预防保健服务固定资金投入;缺乏预防保健专业技术人员;因经济利益的驱使,村卫生室人员不愿意参与预防保健服务。     

Competition policy for health care provision in Norway

Competition policy has played a very limited role for health care provision in Norway. The main reason is that Norway has a National Health Service (NHS) with extensive public provision and a wide set of sector-specific regulations that limit the scope for competition. However, the last two decades, several reforms have deregulated health care provision and opened up for provider competition along some dimensions. For specialised care, the government has introduced patient choice and (partly) activity (DRG) based funding, but also corporatised public hospitals and allowed for more private provision. For primary care, a reform changed the payment scheme to capitation and (a higher share of) fee-for-service, inducing almost all GPs on fixed salary contracts to become self-employed. While these reforms have the potential for generating competition in the Norwegian NHS, the empirical evidence is quite limited and the findings are mixed. We identify a set of possible caveats that may weaken the incentives for provider competition – such as the partial implementation of DRG pricing, the dual purchaser–provider role of regional health authorities, and the extensive consolidation of public hospitals – and argue that there is great scope for competition policy measures that could stimulate provider competition within the Norwegian NHS.     

Assessing determinants of health care prepayment in China: Economic growth or government willingness? New evidence from the continuous wavelet analysis

Significant prepayment of health care is a crucial factor to ensure that all individuals have access to effective health services at affordable prices. The research questions we address here are as follows: What role does economic growth play in changing the level of health care prepayment? Does government's willingness to spend more on health mean higher prepayment rates in the health financing system? What are their dynamic relationships? These questions are addressed in China over the 1978 to 2014 period by employing the continuous wavelet analysis. We focus in particular on their correlations and lead‐lag relationships across different frequency bands. Our findings clearly show that overall government willingness has a positive effect on health care prepayment level, while the impact of economic growth varies in the time‐frequency domain. This variation could be demonstrated in 1980 to 1998, when the positive correlation between economic growth and health care prepayment level in the short term turned negative in the medium and long term, which indicated that China could not achieve mutual development of economic growth and social welfare within the market‐oriented health system. Notably, the time‐varying analysis indicates that China's new round of medical system reform since 2006 plays an important role in changing the correlations and lead‐lag relationships. In particular, health care prepayment tended to lead government willingness during the 2006 to 2012 period since the increase of health subsidies and expenditures strengthened government responsibility over the health sector, and there existed a persistent mutual stimulation between economic growth and health care prepayment level across all frequency bands along with the reform.     

The impact of economic crisis on the Greek hospitals' productivity

During the recent economic crisis, Greece implemented a comprehensive reform in the health care system. The 2010 health reform occurred under the constraints imposed by the memorandum of understanding that the Greek Government signed with its EU/International Monetary Fund creditors to control its deficit. The objective of the study is to examine the impact of the reform on the efficiency and productivity of public hospitals in Greece. We use the Malmquist productivity index to comparatively examine the potential changes before and after the reform years. We compare productivity, efficiency, and technological changes using panel data of 111 public acute hospitals operating in Greece throughout the recession period of 2009 to 2012. Bootstrapping methods are applied to allow for uncertainty owing to sampling error and for statistical inference for the Malmquist productivity index and its decompositions. The analysis indicates that the productivity has been increased following the policy changes. It appears that the expected benefits from the reform in general have been achieved, at least in the short‐term. This result is examined in the light of management and operations activities, which are related with the reform process. Therefore, at a second stage, the Malmquist index is regressed on variables that may potentially be statistically associated with productivity growth.     

台湾地区全民健康保险制度建立对内地医改的启示

在全民医保覆盖的"新医改"思路下,通过对台湾地区建立全民健康保险的经验的介绍和分析,作者建议内地医改当务之急是戮力开放医疗市场。此外,以台湾医改为借镜,建议进一步通过建立单一的医保制度和舆论监督体系,促进社会公平和提高医疗体制整体绩效。     

用传统的经济学理论解析“看病难”、“看病贵”的原因和解决方案

用传统的经济学理论分析了"看病难"、"看病贵"产生的原因,用经济学方法得出卫生资源公平配置的策略,指出新医改方案中提出的措施如果能得到落实,那么"看病贵","看病难"将得到有效缓解,卫生资源配置公平性问题才得以有效实施,政策制定中的效率、公平、稳定三原则才能统一起来。     

基层卫生服务机构支付方式研究

基层卫生服务机构是基本卫生服务的提供主体,对基层卫生服务机构支付方式的改革牵动着筹资、卫生服务提供的质量和效率、结果的公平性等多方面的问题,是卫生改革的重点。从概念上界定了基层卫生服务机构和支付方式,而后对相关文献进行了研究总结。对基层卫生服务机构支付方式的研究,多从财政补偿力度的角度,论证了对基层的投入不足和一些对具体到某一种服务的支付方式的探讨。尚无文献从支付方式理论出发,对基层卫生服务机构的支付方式和配套政策进行系统的研究。文献中提出的政策建议,以强调政府职责为主,对支付方式的选择以及配套政策给予建议性的研究。     

中国医疗卫生:挑战与出路

疾病风险可以引发经济风险、社会风险甚至政治风险。国内外都对疾病风险的防范给予高度重视,很多国家通过制度为百姓提供医疗保障,化解由疾病风险引发的其他风险。通过对中国疾病风险严重程度的分析,指出“看病难、看病贵”问题的核心原因是政府公共服务职能的缺失,这种缺失表现为社会保障制度的缺失和医疗公共筹资制度的弱化。为此,在发展战略选择上,主张选择以健康为核心的发展战略,以改革推动事业发展。在改革路径选择方面,提出以筹资模式的转变为突破口,促进医疗卫生服务管理模式、服务模式以及就医模式的转变。从而,全面实现推动以健康为核心的发展模式。