Tag: health services

A controversial directive on cross-border healthcare is expected to pass through the European Parliament at the end of this month, despite continued divisions between political groups and disagreement among member states.

The Netherlands' healthcare system was this week rated the best in Europe by the annual Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI). Experts believe it could serve as a model for US healthcare reform.

"Great benefits can be made by opening health sectors to trade and investment integration, but very few countries have undertaken such reforms," write Lucy Davis and Fredrik Erixon in a policy brief for the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE).

The European Commission is promoting hi-tech solutions to prevent chronic diseases and meet the health challenges of the 21st century. 

Tackling health threats such as avian flu and ensuring safe, efficient and equitable access to cross-border healtcare will be top priorities of the EU public health policy agenda in the years to come, predicted the Commission's public health director, Andrzej Ryś, in an interview with EurActiv. 

Doctors, patients and citizens alike are urging the Commission to come up with a promised directive on the provision of cross-border health services. They insist that official discussions on the proposal must begin, despite fears they could trigger major negative EU campaigning by some MEPs ahead of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

The European Commission has called for quick action and strengthened national co-operation on lead market opportunities for eHealth in order to increase economic benefits and improve quality of health services.

Healthcare systems around the world will become unsustainable by 2015, unless governments adopt new accountability standards on how the money is being spent, argues an IBM report, echoing earlier calls for more transparency in public health funding.

The EU health strategy 2008-2013 focuses on fostering good health among older people and the workforce, protecting citizens from emerging threats and supporting innovation towards more efficient and sustainable healthcare systems.

The UK has launched a review of the National Health Service (NHS) to examine the impact of technology and lifestyle choices on the nation's well-being and to make the system more fair, personal and effective. Launching the review, UK Premier Gordon Brown also announced the creation of a new health innovation fund.

The financial challenges facing healthcare systems have lead to the increased application of home-based tele-health solutions, market-analysis firm Datamonitor reports.

"Simply improving GDP and living standards itself does not improve or makes only very slow changes to peoples' assessment of their quality of life," says Eurofound's survey co-ordinator in an interview with EurActiv.com.

MEPs have rejected a specific EU legislation on health services, but urged the Commission to propose codification of the current case law on EU citizens' right to seek healthcare in other member states, with costs covered by their own health system.

In a surprise vote, the Parliament's Internal Market Committee is calling on the Commission to come forward with a proposal for reintroducing health services into the Services Directive. 

An expert panel report calling for more competition to improve efficiency and transparency of healthcare systems has received a cautious welcome from stakeholders.

The EU executive has launched a public consultation on the future EU framework for health services, to know where greater legal certainty is needed and how to support co-operation between national health systems.

As public and private healthcare were excluded from the services directive, the Commission has decided to set up a specific EU health services framework to guarantee cross-border access to health care.