[EQ] Euro Observer: The challenges of hospital payment systems

Hospital payment systems in Europe

Euro Observer - The Health Policy Bulletin of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Autumn 2010 Volume 12, Number 3

Available online PDF [12p.] at: http://bit.ly/aykuFq

Case studies on Germany, the Netherlands and Finland.

“……Spending on hospital services has historically been one of the largest shares of total health care expenditures for the majority of countries in Europe and the developed world.1

According to the OECD, hospital spending on average accounted for approximately one third of total current expenditure on health care in European OECD countries in 2008, ranging from 26.7% in Slovakia to 46.9% in Sweden (See Table 1).

 

In some countries in the WHO European region, particularly in CIS countries, inpatient expenditures as a share of total health care expenditures has at times been over 70%.2 As hospitals continue to consume a considerable share of health care resources, policymakers have looked to new payment strategies to ensure that care is delivered efficiently. Hospital financiers are faced with the difficult task of designing systems aligning patient needs and provider incentives in order to obtain the best possible value for money….”

The financial incentives underlying hospital payment systems ultimately affect providers’ organizational structure and treatment patterns. In the past, most European countries paid for hospital care through payment systems such as global fixed budgets, fixed rates per admission or per diem rates based on the number of bed days. Each of these systems encourages different approaches to providing hospital care…..”

Contents

- The challenges of hospital payment systems

- DRG-type hospital  payment in Germany: The G-DRG system

- Structural reforms and hospital payment in the Netherlands

- Financing of hospital care in Finland

Editor Anna Maresso

Editorial Team: Josep Figueras, Martin McKee, Elias Mossialos, Sarah Thomson

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