OECD Economics Department Working Papers

ISSN :
1815-1973 (en ligne)
DOI :
10.1787/18151973
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Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.
 

Reforming Austria's Highly Regarded but Costly Health System You or your institution have access to this content

Auteur(s):
Rauf Gönenç, Maria M. Hofmarcher, Andreas Wörgötter
Date de publication
29 sep 2011
Bibliographic information
N°:
895
Pages
54
DOI
10.1787/5kg51mbntk7j-en

Cacher / Voir l'abstract

The highly regarded Austrian health system delivers good quality and easily accessible services, but is costly. Its governance and funding structure is highly fragmented and it makes too much use of inpatient care in hospitals. Entry and competition opportunities are de facto limited in most health markets. The system operates therefore on a supply-driven basis, and does not have clear mechanisms to optimize spending on a cost-benefit basis. Population lifestyles are also not supportive of good health outcomes and suffer important differences between social groups, raising risks for the future. This Working Paper reviews Austrian authorities’ responses to these challenges, and makes recommendations based on OECD countries’ experiences. The suggested priorities are: i) more clearly assigning the performance, financing and spending responsibilities in the system, ii) enforcing a national capacity plan for publicly-funded inpatient and outpatient care, iii) introducing performance-based payment mechanisms in all services, iv) promoting the transition to "integrated care" by better balancing preventive, outpatient, inpatient, rehabilitation and long-term care, v) emphasizing healthier lifestyles and monitoring progress against national health goals (such as targets for obesity and overweight rates), and vi) better clarifying the medium-term fiscal outlook and scenarios of the system. This working paper is a slightly revised and completed version
Mots-clés:
Austria, public spending, health care system, health institutions and policies, efficiency
Classification JEL:
  • H51: Public Economics / National Government Expenditures and Related Policies / Government Expenditures and Health
  • I11: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Analysis of Health Care Markets
  • I12: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Health Production
  • I18: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health