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...

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...

This paper examines the labour market impacts of lifestyle risk factors and associated chronic diseases, in terms of employment opportunities, wages, productivity, sick leave, early retirement and receipt of disability benefits. It provides a review...

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...

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...

This study covers “tapering scale” mechanism in hospital payments, i.e. mechanisms linking unit prices to the volume of services produced. This paper begins with an overview of hospital services and hospital payment methods in OECD countries,...

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...

Waiting times for elective (non-urgent) surgery are a main health policy concern in approximately half of OECD countries. Mean waiting times for elective surgical procedures are above three months in several countries and maximum waiting times can...

Safety governance refers to the approaches taken to minimise the risk for patient harm across an entity or system. It typically comprises steering and rule-making functions such as policies, regulations and standards. To date, governance has focused...

The strengthening of health data infrastructure and governance is a policy priority of the OECD. This report presents findings from the 2019-20 OECD survey of health data development, use and governance. Health ministries and health data authorities...

Policy-makers responsible for publicly-funded drug programmes face continual pressures between the demand to accommodate a steady stream of new and more effective drugs and the ongoing requirement to control costs.In the face of these pressures, a...

The Ageing-Related Diseases study compares health care systems by examining treatment trends and health outcomes on a disease-by-disease basis. Most of the day-to-day decisions that determine health care system performance are made in treating...

The landscape of health services delivery is undergoing significant transformation from fragmented and disease-centred toward integrated and people-centred care. Health workers find themselves at the centre of this transformation that demands from...

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...

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...

In 2017, the “Sláintecare Report” proposed a comprehensive overhaul of the Irish health system including a reform proposal to phase out private practice in public hospitals to end the unequal treatment of public and private patients – private...

All countries are investing in the development of electronic health (clinical) records, but only some countries are moving forward the possibility of data extraction for research, statistics and other uses that serve the public interest. This study...

In recent years, China has seen an unprecedented expansion of health insurance for its population in its quest to achieve universal health coverage. By 2011, 95% of the Chinese population was insured up from less than 50% in 2005 through public or...

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...

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...