N°
61
25 Mar 2013
International Variations in a Selected Number of Surgical Procedures Klim McPherson, Giorgia Gon, Maggie Scott
This paper summarises recent international data on rates of five surgical procedures (i.e. caesarean,
hysterectomy, prostatectomy, hip replacement and appendectomy) across OECD countries. It examines
trends over time and compares age- and sex-specific rates for a recent year, for a sub-set of...
N°
60
29 Jan 2013
Health Spending Growth at Zero David Morgan, Roberto Astolfi
Health spending slowed markedly or fell in many OECD countries recently after years of continuous growth, according to OECD Health Data 2012. As a result of the global economic crisis which began in 2008, a zero rate of growth in health expenditure was recorded on average in 2010, and...
N°
59
31 Oct 2012
A Comparative Analysis of Health Forecasting Methods Roberto Astolfi, Luca Lorenzoni, Jillian Oderkirk
Concerns about health expenditure growth and its long-term sustainability have stimulated the
development of health expenditure forecasting models in many OECD countries. This comparative
analysis reviewed 25 models that were developed by, or used for, policy analysis by OECD member
countries...
N°
58
10 July 2012
Income-Related Inequalities in Health Service Utilisation in 19 OECD Countries, 2008-2009 Marion Devaux, Michael de Looper
This Working Paper examines income-related inequalities in health care service utilisation in OECD countries. It extends a previous analysis (Van Doorslaer and Masseria, 2004) to 2008-2009 for 13 countries, and adds new results for 6 countries, for doctor and dentist visits, and cancer...
N°
57
30 Aug 2011
The Impact of Pay Increases on Nurses' Labour Market James Buchan, Steven Black
Nurses are usually the most numerous professionals in the healthcare workforce, and their
contribution is a core component in attaining the policy objectives of improved productivity, quality of
care and effectiveness in the health sector. The recent global economic crisis, and its related...
N°
56
14 Apr 2011
Description of Alternative Approaches to Measure and Place a Value on Hospital Products in Seven OECD Countries Luca Lorenzoni, Mark Pearson
This paper provides a description of the classification systems used to measure hospital services in selected OECD countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom (England), and the United States. Three classifications are relevant: those on diagnoses; on procedures; and...
N°
55
31 Jan 2011
Mortality Amenable to Health Care in 31 OECD Countries Juan G. Gay, Valérie Paris, Marion Devaux, Michael de Looper
This study assesses the potential of the concept of "mortality amenable to health care" as an indicator
of outcome for health care systems. It presents estimates of the mortality amenable to health care in 31
OECD countries for the period 1997-2007. It measures the sensitivity of this indicator...
N°
54
08 July 2010
Nurses in Advanced Roles Marie-Laure Delamaire, Gaetan Lafortune
Many countries are seeking to improve health care delivery by reviewing the roles of health
professionals, including nurses. Developing new and more advanced roles for nurses could improve
access to care in the face of a limited or diminishing supply of doctors. It might also contain costs...
N°
53
08 July 2010
Comparing Price Levels of Hospital Services Across Countries Francette Koechlin, Luca Lorenzoni, Paul Schreyer
Health services account for a large and increasing share of production and expenditure in OECD countries but there are also noticeable differences between countries in expenditure per capita. Whether such differences are due to more services consumed in some countries than in others or whether...
N°
52
26 May 2010
Guidelines for Improving the Comparability and Availability of Private Health Expenditures Under the System of Health Accounts Framework Ravi P. Rannan-Eliya, Luca Lorenzoni
This paper reports on a project to improve the comparability and availability of private health expenditure under the joint health accounts questionnaire (JHAQ) data collection. The JHAQ is a framework for joint data collection in the area of health expenditure data developed by OECD, Eurostat,...
N°
51
29 Mar 2010
Effective Ways to Realise Policy Reforms in Health Systems Jeremy Hurst
Sometimes it is argued that the content of a reform is less important in determining whether or not it receives public and legislative approval than the timing of the proposal; the way in which the reform is presented; the discussions with stakeholders; and a multitude of other factors. The...
N°
50
28 Apr 2010
Health Systems Institutional Characteristics Valérie Paris, Marion Devaux, Lihan Wei
In 2008, the OECD launched a survey to collect information on the health systems characteristics of
member countries. This paper presents the informaton provided by 29 of these countries in 2009. It
describes country-specific arrangements to organise the population coverage against health risks...
N°
49
21 May 2010
The Challenge of Financing Health Care in the Current Crisis Peter Scherer, Marion Devaux
The ratio of health expenditure to GDP, which in macroeconomic terms is an indicator which
summarises the financing needs of a national health system, is likely to rise in countries for which the GDP
falls. Over the past four decades, health expenditure has risen in most countries at a faster...
N°
48
20 Nov 2009
Improving Lifestyles, Tackling Obesity: The Health and Economic Impact of Prevention Strategies Franco Sassi, Michele Cecchini, Jeremy Lauer, Dan Chisholm
Overweight and obesity rates have been increasing relentlessly over recent decades in all
industrialised countries, as well as in many lower income countries. OECD analyses of trends over time
support the grim picture drawn in the international literature and so do projections of overweight...
N°
47
23 Nov 2009
Health Care Quality Indicators Project Saskia Drösler, Patrick Romano, Lihan Wei
This paper reports on the progress in the research and development of the set of patient safety
indicators developed by the Health Care Quality Indicators project. The indicators presented here have
been recommended by an expert group for further consideration in international reporting on the...
N°
46
15 June 2009
Education and Obesity in Four OECD Countries Franco Sassi, Marion Devaux, Jody Church, Michele Cecchini, Francesca Borgonovi
An epidemic of obesity has been developing in virtually all OECD countries over the last 30 years.
Existing evidence provides strong suggestions that such epidemic has affected certain social groups more
than others. In particular, education appears to be associated with a lower likelihood of...
N°
45
20 Mar 2009
The Obesity Epidemic: Analysis of Past and Projected Future Trends in Selected OECD Countries Franco Sassi, Marion Devaux, Michele Cecchini, Elena Rusticelli
This paper provides an overview of past and projected future trends in adult overweight and obesity in
OECD countries. Using individual-level data from repeated cross-sectional national surveys, some of the
main determinants and pathways underlying the current obesity epidemic are explored, and...
N°
44
17 Mar 2009
The Long-Term Care Workforce: Overview and Strategies to Adapt Supply to a Growing Demand Rie Fujisawa, Francesca Colombo
This working paper offers an overview of the LTC workforce and reviews country responses to a
growing demand for LTC workers. In the context of ageing societies, the importance of long-term care is growing in all OECD
countries. In 2005, long-term care expenditure accounted for slightly over 1%...
N°
43
09 Mar 2009
Measuring Disparities in Health Status and in Access and Use of Health Care in OECD Countries Michael de Looper, Gaetan Lafortune
Most OECD countries have endorsed as major policy objectives the reduction of inequalities in health
status and the principle of adequate or equal access to health care based on need. These policy objectives
require an evidence-based approach to measure progress. This paper assesses the...
N°
42
16 Feb 2009
Policies for Healthy Ageing Howard Oxley
This paper reviews policies in the area of healthy ageing. With the ageing of OECD countries’ population
over coming decades, maintaining health in old age will become increasingly important. Successful
policies in this area can increase the potential labour force and the supply of non-market...
N°
41
18 Dec 2008
The Remuneration of General Practitioners and Specialists in 14 OECD Countries Rie Fujisawa, Gaetan Lafortune
This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the remuneration of doctors in 14 OECD countries for which reasonably comparable data were available in OECD Health Data 2007 (Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands,...
N°
40
16 Oct 2008
International Mobility of Health Professionals and Health Workforce Management in Canada Jean-Christophe Dumont, Pascal Zurn, Jody Church, Christine LeThi
This report examines the role played by immigrant health workers in the Canadian health workforce
but also the interactions between migration policies and education and health workforce management
policies.
Migrant health worker makes a significant contribution to the Canadian health workforce....
N°
39
21 Oct 2008
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Germany Valérie Paris, Elizabeth Docteur
This paper describes pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Germany, considering
them in the broader environment in which they operate, and assesses their impact on the achievement of a
number of policy goals. Pharmaceutical coverage is comprehensive, with a high level of public...
N°
38
13 Oct 2008
Migration of Health Workers James Buchan, Susanna Baldwin, Miranda Munro
The UK has a population of 56 million, and most healthcare is delivered through the National Health
Service (NHS). The NHS employs more than one million staff.
In the late 1990s shortages of skilled staff were a main obstacle to improving services in the NHS.
The response by government was to...
N°
37
13 Oct 2008
The US Physician Workforce Richard Cooper
This review surveys trends in physician supply in the United States from 1980 to the present with
particular attention to the participation of International Medical Graduates. It discussed the composition of
the physician workforce with regards to the number of family practitioners,...
N°
36
01 Oct 2008
Projet OCDE sur la migration des professionnels de santé OECD
Ce document examine la démographie des professionnels de la santé en France ainsi que les
évolutions récentes des politiques migratoire relatives aux professionnels de la santé. Il traite également
de la planification des effectifs et du rôle possible du recrutement du personnel de la santé étranger dans
les années à venir.
L’évolution des...
N°
35
01 Oct 2008
Nurse Workforce Challenges in the United States Linda H. Aiken, Robyn Cheung
The United States has the largest professional nurse workforce in the world numbering close to 3
million but does not produce enough nurses to meet its growing demand. A shortage of close to a million
professional nurses is projected to evolve by 2020. An emerging physician shortage will...
N°
34
01 Oct 2008
Mismatches in the Formal Sector, Expansion of the Informal Sector Jonathan Chaloff
Italy has an aging population which is placing a strain on the public health system and on families. At
the same time, it has a distorted market of supply of health professionals. Past over enrolment in medical
faculties has produced a current glut of doctors, although shortages will appear as...
N°
33
22 May 2008
Health Workforce and International Migration Pascal Zurn, Jean-Christophe Dumont
This paper examines health workforce and migration policies in New Zealand, with a special
focus on the international recruitment of doctors and nurses.
2. The health workforce in New Zealand, as in all OECD countries, plays a central role in the health
system. Nonetheless, maybe more than for...
N°
32
25 Mar 2008
The Prevention of Lifestyle-Related Chronic Diseases Franco Sassi, Jeremy Hurst
This paper provides an economic perspective on the prevention of chronic diseases, focusing in
particular on diseases linked to lifestyle choices. The proposed economic framework is centred on the
hypothesis that the prevention of chronic diseases may provide the means for increasing social...
N°
31
25 Feb 2008
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Slovakia Zoltán Kaló, Elizabeth Docteur, Pierre Moïse
This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of Slovakia's
pharmaceutical sector, and assesses the degree to which Slovakia has achieved certain policy goals.
Pharmaceutical expenditure in Slovakia accounts for a higher share of total health expenditure than...
N°
30
12 Dec 2007
Improved Health System Performance through better Care Coordination Maria M. Hofmarcher, Howard Oxley, Elena Rusticelli
This report attempts to assess whether -- and to what degree - better care coordination can improve
health system performance in terms of quality and cost-efficiency. Coordination of care refers to policies
that help create patient-centred care that is more coherent both within and across care...
N°
29
11 Oct 2007
Health Care Quality Indicators Project 2006 Data Collection Update Report Sandra Garcia Armesto, Maria Luisa Gil Lapetra, Lihan Wei, Edward Kelley
This report is an update to the OECD Health Working Paper No. 22, Health Care Quality Indicators Project: Initial Indicators Report that was based on data collected between 2003 and 2005 and released in 2006. That report presented the OECD’s initial work on developing a set of health care...
N°
28
26 July 2007
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Sweden Pierre Moïse, Elizabeth Docteur
This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of the Swedish
pharmaceutical sector, assesses the degree to which Sweden has achieved certain policy goals, and puts
forth some key findings and conclusions.
Thanks to low mark-ups in the distribution chain and no...
N°
27
27 June 2007
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Switzerland Valérie Paris, Elizabeth Docteur
This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of the Swiss pharmaceutical sector, and assesses the degree to which Switzerland has achieved certain policy goals.
In Switzerland, pharmaceutical spending has not been growing faster than health expenditure as a...
N°
26
30 Mar 2007
Trends in Severe Disability Among Elderly People Gaetan Lafortune, Gaëlle Balestat
As the number and share of the population aged 65 and over will continue to grow steadily in
OECD countries over the next decades, improvements in the functional status of elderly people could help
mitigate the rise in the demand for, and hence expenditure on, long-term care. This paper...
N°
25
13 Feb 2007
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Mexico Pierre Moïse, Elizabeth Docteur
This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of Mexico's
pharmaceutical sector, and assesses the degree to which Mexico has achieved certain policy goals. This
paper questions the effectiveness of the maximum price regulation. It notes that retail prices...
N°
24
22 Dec 2006
Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies in Canada Valérie Paris, Elizabeth Docteur
This paper describes and assesses pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Canada, considering them in the context of the broader policy and market environment in which they operate, and investigating their role in contributing to Canada’s achievements in meeting a range of...
N°
23
09 Mar 2006
Health Care Quality Indicators Project Edward Kelley, Jeremy Hurst
This paper represents an attempt to set out a conceptual framework for the OECD’s Health Care Quality Indicator (HCQI) Project. Two main issues are tackled: what concepts, or dimensions, of quality of health care should be measured and how, in principle, should they be measured. The need for a...
N°
22
09 Mar 2006
Health Care Quality Indicators Project Soeren Mattke, Edward Kelley, Peter Scherer, Jeremy Hurst, Maria Luisa Gil Lapetra, HCQI Expert Group Members
The OECD Health Care Quality Indicator (HCQI) Project was started in 2001. The long-term objective of the HCQI Project is to develop a set of indicators that can be used to raise questions for further investigation concerning quality of health care across countries. It was envisioned that the...
N°
21
16 Jan 2006
The Supply of Physician Services in OECD Countries Steven Simoens, Jeremy Hurst
The delivery of an appropriate quantity and quality of health care in an efficient way requires, among other things, matching the supply with the demand for the services of physicians, over time. Such matching has led to very different levels of physicians per million population across OECD...
N°
20
11 May 2005
Consumer Direction and Choice in Long-Term Care for Older Persons, Including Payments for Informal Care Jens Lundsgaard
As the number of older persons in need of long-term care increases, efforts to support older persons remaining in their home are intensified in most OECD countries. In this context of ageing in place, there is a movement towards allowing more individual choice for older persons receiving...
N°
19
01 Jan 2005
Tackling Nurse Shortages in OECD Countries Steven Simoens, Mike Villeneuve, Jeremy Hurst
There are reports of current nurse shortages in all but a few OECD countries. With further increases in demand for nurses expected and nurse workforce ageing predicted to reduce the supply of nurses, shortages are likely to persist or even increase in the future, unless action is taken to...
N°
18
16 Dec 2004
Private Health Insurance in the Netherlands Nicole Tapay, Francesca Colombo
Private health insurance (PHI) is the sole source of primary health coverage for a third of the Netherlands’ population earning above a set income threshold. Social insurance (together with limited public (tax-based financing) is the main source of health coverage for the majority of the...
N°
17
24 Feb 2005
Skill-Mix and Policy Change in the Health Workforce James Buchan, Lynn Calman
An important potential contribution to the efficient use of the health workforce, is the possibility of ‘skill mix’ changes. ‘Skill mix’ is a relatively broad term which can refer to the mix of staff in the workforce or the demarcation of roles and activities among different categories of...
N°
16
06 Aug 2004
SHA-Based National Health Accounts in Thirteen OECD Countries Eva Orosz, David Morgan
The purpose of the System of Health AccountsChanges in health systems and concomitant health policy questions have been challenging the traditional system of health expenditure statistics over the last couple of decades. What are the major factors accounting for health expenditure growth? What...
N°
15
01 Jan 2004
Private Health Insurance in OECD Countries Francesca Colombo, Nicole Tapay
Governments often look to private health insurance (PHI) as a possible means of addressing some health system challenges. For example, they may consider enhancing its role as an alternative source of health financing and a way to increase system capacity, or promoting it as a tool to further...
N°
14
11 May 2004
Income-Related Inequality in the Use of Medical Care in 21 OECD Countries Eddy van Doorslaer, Cristina Masseria
This study updates and extends a previous study on equity in physician utilisation for a subset of the countries analyzed here (Van Doorslaer, Koolman and Puffer, 2002). It updates results to 2000 for 13 countries and adds new results for eight countries: Australia, Finland, France, Hungary,...
N°
13
28 July 2004
Dementia Care in 9 OECD Countries Pierre Moïse, Michael Schwarzinger, Myung-Yong Um
Dementia and its most common manifestation, Alzheimer’s disease, is a complex disorder that afflicts primarily the elderly, affecting an estimated 10 million people in OECD member countries. The complexity of the disease makes treating dementia extremely difficult, involving a wide variety of...
N°
12
11 Mar 2004
Private Health Insurance in France Thomas C. Buchmueller, Agnes Couffinhal
While France has a universal public health insurance system, the coverage it provides is incomplete and the vast majority the French population has private complementary health insurance. Among OECD countries, the share of health care financed by private insurance is third highest behind the US...
