Primary prevention in hospitals in 20 high-income countries in Europe - A case of not "Making Every Contact Count"?

This article provides a snapshot of primary prevention activities in hospitals in 20 European high-income countries, based on inputs from experts of the Observatory's Health Systems and Policies Monitor (HSPM) network using a structured questionnaire. We found that in the vast majority of countries (15), there are no systematic national policies on primary prevention in hospitals. Five countries (Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom) reported systematic primary prevention activities in hospitals, although in one of them (Cyprus) this was due to the fact that small hospitals in rural areas or less populated districts host providers of primary care.

Hospitals' financial performance across European countries: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Hospitals remain the cornerstone of health systems in European countries. Therefore, the financial sustainability of hospitals constitutes an important determinant of healthcare provision security. The fragmentary data available indicate that hospitals in many European countries are continuously facing financial deficits and/or insolvency problems.

Development of a tool for assessing the performance of long-term care systems in relation to care transition: Transitional Care Assessment Tool in Long-Term Care (TCAT-LTC).

Background: Improving the quality and safety of care transitions is a priority in many countries. Carrying out performance measurements play a significant role in improving quality of decisions undertaken by different actors involved in reforms. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present the development of an evaluation tool for assessing the performance of long-term care systems in relation to care transition, namely the Transitional Care Assessment Tool in Long-Term Care (TCAT-LTC).

The 2021 plan for hospital care centralization in Poland - When politics overwhelms the policy process.

The health system in Poland is characterized by oversized hospital infrastructure, with simultaneous deficits in the ambulatory and long-term care sectors. The main challenges of the hospital sector involve i.a.

Eating Choices-The Roles of Motivation and Health Literacy: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Food choices are determined by intrinsic and extrinsic product characteristics, biological and physiological features, psychological factors, and situational and socio-cultural factors. Self-determination theory offers the explanation of health behavior change identifying motivations located along a continuum of autonomy. Another approach to the motivations guiding health behaviors, including food choices, relies on distinguishing thematic categories.

Associations between the COVID-19 Pandemic and Hospital Infrastructure Adaptation and Planning-A Scoping Review.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on the hospital sector around the world. It has shown the importance of preparing and planning in the future for an outbreak that overwhelms every aspect of a hospital on a rapidly expanding scale. We conducted a scoping review to identify, map, and systemize existing knowledge about the relationships between COVID-19 and hospital infrastructure adaptation and capacity planning worldwide.

Key Care Provision Aspects That Affect Care Transition in the Long-Term Care Systems: Preliminary Review Findings.

The aim of this brief report is to present the protocol and preliminary findings of a systematic review on key aspects of care provision that affect care transition of older adults 60+ within the long-term care systems. This brief report describes and classifies the relevant literature found in the review with the purpose to provide a base for further full systematic reviews, and to outlines a model of organizational and financing aspects that affect care transition. Our search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL on 2 March 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changes in the use and uptake of a national out-of-hours telephone triage service by younger and older patients seeking non-urgent unplanned care surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in Flanders (Belgium).

Background: This study seeks to examine if and how the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted changes in the use and uptake of a national out-of-hours (OOH) telephone triage service by younger and older patients seeking non-urgent unplanned care in Flanders (Belgium).

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted using registry data obtained from the 1733 OOH telephone triage service in a Flemish region of Belgium. All calls received between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020 were analyzed.

Do financial aspects affect care transitions in long-term care systems? A systematic review.

Background: Suboptimal care transitions of older adults may ultimately lead to worse quality of care and increased costs for the health and social care systems. Currently, policies and financing often focus on care in specific settings only, and neglect quality of care during transitions between these settings. Therefore, appropriate financing mechanisms and improved care coordination are necessary for effective care transitions.

Assessing Policy Challenges and Strategies Supporting Informal Caregivers in the European Union.

Cost containment and the preferences of older adults are important stimuli for encouraging the provision of informal care worldwide. Nevertheless, informal caregiving can have negative effects on caregiver's health, wellbeing, and employment opportunities. Moreover, it is questionable whether informal caregivers can substantially contribute to meeting the increasing demand for care or serve as a substitute for formally provided services.

[ASSESSMENT OF THE FINANCIAL STANDING OF SELECTED RESEARCH INSTITUTES SUPERVISED BY THE MINISTER OF HEALTH IN 2014-2018].

Objective: The aim: The purpose of this study is the analysis of the financial situation of the institutes supervised by the Minister of Health in the period 2014-2018.

Patients And Methods: Material and methods: The study group consisted of 10 institutes that conducted inpatient and / or outpatient medical activities in 2018. Data to analysis derived from financial statements of research institutes from 2014 to 2018.

Health technology assessment and reimbursement policy for oncology orphan drugs in Central and Eastern Europe.

Background: The reimbursement of orphan drugs (OD) is an increasingly important for country policymakers, and still insufficiently understood, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of this research was to provide a comprehensive description of country-specific health technology assessment (HTA) policies as well as evaluate the percentage of HTA recommendations and reimbursement decisions for oncology OD. In addition, the study was designed to elucidate the impact of reimbursement of these drugs on the public budget and the agreement between HTA recommendations and reimbursement decisions in the analysed countries.

What next after the 'commercialization' of public hospitals? Searching for effective solutions to achieve financial stability of the hospital sector in Poland.

The problem of hospital indebtedness has fraught the Polish health care sector for many decades. While it is largely attributed to the shortcomings of the legal form of the independent public health care unit (SPZOZ), which is the main legal form in which public hospitals operate in Poland, analysis of hospital indebtedness shows that the problem had been apparent before this legal form was introduced in 1999. The problem also did not appear to diminish with the transformation of the SPZOZs into Commercial Code companies, which effectively started in 2011 and was recently halted.

Poland: Health System Review.

This analysis of the Polish health system reviews recent developments in organization and governance, health financing, health care provision, health reforms and health system performance. In late 2017, the Polish government committed to increase the share of public expenditures on health to 6% of GDP by 2024. If the GDP continues to grow in the years to come, this will present an opportunity to tackle mounting health challenges such as socioeconomic inequalities in health, high rates of obesity, rising burden of mental disorders and population ageing that put strain on health care resources.

The 2017 reform of the hospital sector in Poland - The challenge of consistent design.

Beginning in October 2017 a system of basic hospital service provision, popularly called the 'hospitals network' was implemented in Poland. It covered 594 hospitals out of a total number of approx. 920 operating in 2017.

Reimbursement of Orphan Drugs in Europe in Relation to the Type of Authorization by the European Medicines Agency and the Decision Making Based on Health Technology Assessment.

To assess shares of reimbursed orphan drugs and agreement in reimbursement decision-making in different European Union member states as well as to define odds for reimbursement influenced by the presence of conditional approval or exceptional circumstances granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or by type of the disease. The list of authorized drugs with current orphan designations was collected from the website of the EMA. For each drug, the information regarding conditional approval or approval under exceptional circumstances was collected.

Improving oncological care organization in Poland-The 2015 reform evaluation in the context of European experiences.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide with a significant economic impact which has been increasing in recent decades. Numerous expert groups and/or international organizations have developed guidelines on how to build effective cancer control mechanisms, while in the European Union the majority of countries have developed national programmes. In Poland, cancer is the second leading cause of death.

Building hospital capacity planning mechanisms in Poland: The impact of 2016/2017 regulatory changes.

Capacity planning is a crucial component of modern health care governance. The aim of this paper is to analyze the requirements that need to be met to build effective hospital capacity planning mechanisms in Poland. In this context, the recent regulatory changes strongly influencing hospital sector functioning, including introduction of health care needs maps, capital investment assessment, and hospital network regulations, are analyzed.

Pharmaceutical Regulation in Central and Eastern European Countries: A Current Review.

The aim of this study was to review reimbursement environment as well as pricing and reimbursement requirements for drugs in selected Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries. A questionnaire-based survey was performed in the period from November 2016 to March 2017 among experts involved in reimbursement matters from CEE countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania. A review of requirements for reimbursement and implications of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) was performed to compare the issues in above-mentioned countries.

A review of health promotion funding for older adults in Europe: a cross-country comparison.

Background: Health promotion interventions for older adults are important as they can decrease the onset and evolution of diseases and thus can reduce the medical costs related to those diseases. However, there is no comparative evidence on how those interventions are funded in European countries. The aim of this study is to explore the funding of health promotion interventions in general and health promotion interventions for older adults in particular in European countries.

Willingness to pay for publicly financed health care services in Central and Eastern Europe: evidence from six countries based on a contingent valuation method.

The increased interest in patient cost-sharing as a measure for sustainable health care financing calls for evidence to support the development of effective patient payment policies. In this paper, we present an application of a stated willingness-to-pay technique, i.e.

The formal-informal patient payment mix in European countries. Governance, economics, culture or all of these?

Cost-sharing for health care is high on the policy agenda in many European countries that struggle with deficits in their public budget. However, such policy often meets with public opposition, which might delay or even prevent its implementation. Increased reliance on patient payments may also have adverse equity effects, especially in countries where informal patient payments are widespread.

The inability to pay for health services in Central and Eastern Europe: evidence from six countries.

Background: Out-of-pocket payments for health services constitute a major financial burden for patients in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Individuals who are unable to pay use different coping strategies (e.g.

Towards a stakeholders' consensus on patient payment policy: the views of health-care consumers, providers, insurers and policy makers in six Central and Eastern European countries.

Background: Although patient charges for health-care services may contribute to a more sustainable health-care financing, they often raise public opposition, which impedes their introduction. Thus, a consensus among the main stakeholders on the presence and role of patient charges should be worked out to assure their successful implementation.

Aim: To analyse the acceptability of formal patient charges for health-care services in a basic package among different health-care system stakeholders in six Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine).