European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies – serie

Can private health insurance fill gaps in publicly financed coverage? Does it enhance access to health care or improve efficiency in health service delivery? Will it provide fiscal relief for governments struggling to raise public revenue for health? This book examines the successes, failures and challenges of private health insurance globally through country case studies written by leading national experts. Each case study considers the role of history and politics in shaping private health insurance and determining its impact on health system performance. Despite great diversity in the size and functioning of markets for private health insurance, the book identifies clear patterns across countries, drawing out valuable lessons for policymakers while showing how history and politics have proved a persistent barrier to effective public policy. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

What are skill-mix innovations and why are they relevant? This systemic analysis of health workforce skill-mix innovations provides an overview of the evidence and lessons for implementation across multiple countries. The authors focus on six core segments of health systems: health promotion and prevention, acute care, chronic care, long-term and palliative care, as well as access for vulnerable groups and people living in underserved areas. In addition, the book analyses the roles of educational systems, workforce planning and policy, and financing within individual countries' healthcare organisations from a cross-country perspective. Although implementing skill-mix changes may be prone to stakeholder opposition or other barriers, this book helps identify ways to steer the process. The authors ultimately determine what skill-mix innovations exist, who may benefit from the changes and how to implement these changes within health systems. This Open Access title is the sixth book in Cambridge's European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies series.

Factors outside of healthcare services determine our health and this involves many different sectors. Health for All Policies changes the argument about inter-sectoral action, from one focusing on health and the health sector to one based on co-benefits - a 'Health for All Policies' approach. It uses the Sustainable Development Goals as the framework for identifying goals across sectors and summarizes evidence along two causal axes. One is the impact of improved health status on other SDGs, e.g. better educational and employment results. The other is the impact of health systems and policies on other sectors. The 'Health for All Policies' approach advocated in this book is thus a call to improve health to achieve goals beyond health and for the health sector itself to do better in understanding and directing its impact on the world beyond the healthcare it provides. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Long-term care often falls by the wayside in national policy dialogues. As populations age around the world and the prevalence of chronic conditions increases, greater numbers of people will need care and support, putting added pressures on acute-care facilities, communities, and families, among others. This increase in demand for long-term care raises questions about the capacity of governments to provide access to needed care, how these services will be properly resourced and who should receive these benefits. The Care Dividend provides a roadmap for investing in long-term care systems. It argues for increased public investment in high-quality, universally accessible long-term care and explains why these systems benefit everyone: households, health systems, economies, and societies. Bringing together a team of academics and policy experts from around the world, this book explains why and how governments can, and should, take action. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Health care financing is key in defining interactions between providers and the general population. It determines who is required to pay for care, how much they pay, and what types of services patients can receive. It also helps shape markets for health service providers and innovations in service delivery, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Paying for Health brings together insights from over 50 global experts to provide a vital analysis of health care financing around the world, explaining issues related to funding both health and social care. It explores key aspects of health financing, delving into critical policy questions and examining strategies that shape sustainable, effective health systems. Offering real-world examples and evidence-based insights, this essential volume equips policymakers, researchers, and health leaders with the tools to design financing systems that drive progress now and in the future towards universal health coverage. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Hospitals today face a huge number of challenges, including new patterns of disease, rapidly evolving medical technologies, ageing populations and continuing budget constraints. This book is written by clinicians for clinicians and hospital managers, and those who design and operate hospitals. It sets out why hospitals need to change as the patients they treat and the technology to treat them changes. In a series of chapters by leading authorities in their field, it challenges existing models, reviews best practice from many countries and presents clear policy recommendations for policymakers and hospital administrators. It covers the main patient groups and conditions as well as those departments that make modern effective care possible, in imaging and laboratory medicine. Each chapter looks at patient pathways, aspects of workforce, required levels of specialisation and technology, and the opportunities and challenges for optimising the delivery of services in the hospital of the future. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The idea of person-centred health systems is widely advocated in political and policy declarations to better address health system challenges. A person-centred approach is advocated on political, ethical and instrumental grounds and believed to benefit service users, health professionals and the health system more broadly. However, there is continuing debate about the strategies that are available and effective to promote and implement 'person-centred' approaches. This book brings together the world's leading experts in the field to present the evidence base and analyse current challenges and issues. It examines 'person-centredness' from the different roles people take in health systems, as individual service users, care managers, taxpayers or active citizens. The evidence presented will not only provide invaluable policy advice to practitioners and policymakers working on the design and implementation of person-centred health systems but will also be an excellent resource for academics and graduate students researching health systems in Europe. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a biological mechanism whereby a micro-organism evolves over time to develop the ability to become resistant to antimicrobial therapies such as antibiotics. The drivers of and potential solutions to AMR are complex, often spanning multiple sectors. The internationally recognised response to AMR advocates for a 'One Health' approach, which requires policies to be developed and implemented across human, animal, and environmental health. To date, misaligned economic incentives have slowed the development of novel antimicrobials and limited efforts to reduce antimicrobial usage. However, the research which underpins the variety of policy options to tackle AMR is rapidly evolving across multiple disciplines such as human medicine, veterinary medicine, agricultural sciences, epidemiology, economics, sociology and psychology. By bringing together in one place the latest evidence and analysing the different facets of the complex problem of tackling AMR, this book offers an accessible summary for policy-makers, academics and students on the big questions around AMR policy. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.