Developing an agency's position with respect to patient involvement in health technology assessment: the importance of the organizational culture.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to map the PI culture at KCE in the context of the development of organization-wide supported position statements about PI.

Methods: A nominal group technique was used to measure the PI culture at KCE. Arguments for and against PI and conditions for PI in different phases of the HTA process were collected.

PRIORITIES FOR HEALTH ECONOMIC METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH: RESULTS OF AN EXPERT CONSULTATION.

Background: The importance of economic evaluation in decision making is growing with increasing budgetary pressures on health systems. Diverse economic evidence is available for a range of interventions across national contexts within Europe, but little attention has been given to identifying evidence gaps that, if filled, could contribute to more efficient allocation of resources. One objective of the Research Agenda for Health Economic Evaluation project is to determine the most important methodological evidence gaps for the ten highest burden conditions in the European Union (EU), and to suggest ways of filling these gaps.

CARDIOVASCULAR SCREENING OF YOUNG ATHLETES: A REVIEW OF ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS.

Objectives: Some experts have promoted preparticipative cardiovascular screening programs for young athletes and have claimed that such programs were cost-effective without performing a critical analysis of studies supporting this statement. In this systematic review, a critical assessment of economic evaluations on these programs is performed to determine if they really provide value for money.

Methods: A systematic review of economic evaluations was performed on December 24, 2014.

[Chapter 3. Concretely enhancing the role of elderly through capacitating health care].

This paper questions the signification of reinforcing the active role of elderly between societal injunction to feel responsible of the costs to the collectivity and the freedom to choose one's way of life and having the means to realize it. It describes two experiences in two Brussels communes of a model of co-construction with the elderly of a project to live in one's own home, to reinforce the active roles of persons. We want to illustrate the difficulty of such an approach in Belgium, separating the organization and the financing of medical and social care, that does not foster the accompanying and the active role of elderly.

Acceptability and Perceived Benefits and Risks of Public and Patient Involvement in Health Care Policy: A Delphi Survey in Belgian Stakeholders.

Background: In systems with public health insurance, coverage decisions should reflect social values. Deliberation among stakeholders could achieve this goal, but rarely involves patients and citizens directly.

Objectives: This study aimed at evaluating the acceptability, and the perceived benefits and risks, of public and patient involvement (PPI) in coverage decision making to Belgian stakeholders.

The Belgian Health System Performance Report 2012: snapshot of results and recommendations to policy makers.

Following the commitments of the Tallinn Charter, Belgium publishes the second report on the performance of its health system. A set of 74 measurable indicators is analysed, and results are interpreted following the five dimensions of the conceptual framework: accessibility, quality of care, efficiency, sustainability and equity. All domains of care are covered (preventive, curative, long-term and end-of-life care), as well as health status and health promotion.

The French airbridge for circulatory support in the Carribean.

Objectives: We report the assessment and the activities for the first year of our airborne circulatory support mobile unit (CSMU) in the French Caribbean.

Methods: From January 2010 to June 2011, 12 patients (mean age = 35.7 years; range: 15-62 years; sex ratio = 1:1) were attended outside Martinique by our CSMU and transferred to our unit by air.

Terminal patients in Belgian nursing homes: a cost analysis.

Policy makers and health care payers are concerned about the costs of treating terminal patients. This study was done to measure the costs of treating terminal patients during the final month of life in a sample of Belgian nursing homes from the health care payer perspective. Also, this study compares the costs of palliative care with those of usual care.

Challenges in physician supply planning: the case of Belgium.

Introduction: Planning human resources for health (HRH) is a complex process for policy-makers and, as a result, many countries worldwide swing from surplus to shortage. In-depth case studies can help appraising the challenges encountered and the solutions implemented. This paper has two objectives: to identify the key challenges in HRH planning in Belgium and to formulate recommendations for an effective HRH planning, on the basis of the Belgian case study and lessons drawn from an international benchmarking.

Costs of terminal patients who receive palliative care or usual care in different hospital wards.

Background: In addition to the effectiveness of hospital care models for terminal patients, policy makers and health care payers are concerned about their costs. This study aims to measure the hospital costs of treating terminal patients in Belgium from the health care payer perspective. Also, this study compares the costs of palliative and usual care in different types of hospital wards.

The costs of treating terminal patients.

Context: In addition to the effectiveness of terminal care, policy makers and health care payers are concerned about the costs of treating terminal patients in a context of spiraling health care costs and limited resources.

Objectives: This article aims to review the international literature on the costs of treating terminal patients.

Methods: Studies were identified by searching PubMed, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination databases, Cochrane Database, and EconLit, up to April 2009.

Physician supply forecast: better than peering in a crystal ball?

Background: Anticipating physician supply to tackle future health challenges is a crucial but complex task for policy planners. A number of forecasting tools are available, but the methods, advantages and shortcomings of such tools are not straightforward and not always well appraised. Therefore this paper had two objectives: to present a typology of existing forecasting approaches and to analyse the methodology-related issues.

Association between physician density and health care consumption: a systematic review of the evidence.

Background: Supplier-induced demand (SID) for health care could be a crucial factor of rising health expenditures. However, there is thus far no consensus on the topic.

Objective: To assess how physician density (physician-to-population ratio) and health care consumption correlate.

Alkali ocular burns in Martinique (French West Indies) Evaluation of the use of an amphoteric solution as the rinsing product.

Precis: During the 4 years of this study, we noted 66 cases of alkali ocular burns, or approximately 16 cases per year, nearly half (45.5%) of which are due to an assault. For grade 1 and 2 burns the time elapsed to reepithelialization appears to be shorter when rinsed with Diphoterine* versus physiological solution.