Simulation, a tool for designing-in reliability

This paper describes a new method for the analysis and optimization of reliability as an integrated part of the design process of electronic circuits. It bases itself on the analysis of the susceptibility of failure mechanisms in components as a function of the combinations of external stress factors (stressor-sets). The paper describes the backgrounds of stressor-susceptibility analysis, the need for this analysis and the way this method is used for high-level design and optimization of electronic circuits

Financing COVID-19-related health care costs in the Dutch competitive health system during 2020 and 2021:Overall experiences and policy recommendations for improving health system resilience

The Dutch health system is based on the principles of managed (or regulated) competition, meaning that competing risk bearing insurers and providers negotiate contracts on the price, quantity and quality of care. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge external shock to the health system which potentially distorted the conditions required for fair competition. Therefore, an important question is to what extent was the competitive Dutch health system resilient to the financial shock caused by the pandemic? Overall, the Dutch competitive health system proved to be sufficiently flexible and resilient at absorbing the financial shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 due to an effective combination of regulatory and self-regulatory measures. However, based on the overall experiences in the Netherlands, from the health policy perspective improvements are needed aimed at (i) refining the catastrophic costs clause included in the Health Insurance Act, (ii) reducing the vulnerability of the Dutch risk equalisation system to distortions due to unforeseen catastrophic health care costs, and (iii) establishing more equal financial risk sharing between health insurers and health care providers. These improvements are also relevant for other countries with a health system based on the principles of managed (or regulated) competition

Financing COVID-19-related health care costs in the Dutch competitive health system during 2020 and 2021:Overall experiences and policy recommendations for improving health system resilience

The Dutch health system is based on the principles of managed (or regulated) competition, meaning that competing risk bearing insurers and providers negotiate contracts on the price, quantity and quality of care. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge external shock to the health system which potentially distorted the conditions required for fair competition. Therefore, an important question is to what extent was the competitive Dutch health system resilient to the financial shock caused by the pandemic? Overall, the Dutch competitive health system proved to be sufficiently flexible and resilient at absorbing the financial shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 due to an effective combination of regulatory and self-regulatory measures. However, based on the overall experiences in the Netherlands, from the health policy perspective improvements are needed aimed at (i) refining the catastrophic costs clause included in the Health Insurance Act, (ii) reducing the vulnerability of the Dutch risk equalisation system to distortions due to unforeseen catastrophic health care costs, and (iii) establishing more equal financial risk sharing between health insurers and health care providers. These improvements are also relevant for other countries with a health system based on the principles of managed (or regulated) competition

Sustainability and Resilience in the Dutch Health System

The Dutch health system provides broad universal health care coverage and is based on theprinciples of regulated competition. According to the OECD (2022), it is one of the best healthsystems in the world with regard to access to health care, equity and clinical outcomes. However,as also concluded by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR, 2021), as withother health systems, it faces important sustainability and resilience challenges, some of whichwere exposed and exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.This report provides a comprehensive overview of the Dutch health system’s key features acrossthe seven domains of the PHSSR framework: health system governance, health system financing,workforce, medicines and technology, health service delivery, population health and environmentalsustainability. For each of these domains, the aim of the report is to (1) produce a criticalassessment of the country’s most salient strengths, weaknesses and threats regarding thesustainability and resilience of its health system and (2) derive recommendations for health carepolicy.In addition to the seven domains mentioned above, we present two case studies. The first focuseson the resilience of the Dutch health system to the financial shock caused by the COVID-19pandemic. The second examines whether collaboration (aimed at reducing coordination problemsand facilitating integrated health care) and competition are reconcilable in the Dutch health system.<br/

The effect of the EU‐brand on citizens’ trust in policies : replicating an experiment

Karens et al. (2016) conducted an experiment to measure the effect of the European Union (EU) brand on citizens' trust in policies. Experiments conducted with economics students in Belgium, Poland, and The Netherlands showed a consistently positive and significant effect of applying the EU brand, on trust in the policies. This study presents seven replications conducted several years after Karens et al.'s experiments. The replications show no significant effects of the EU brand on trust in policies. These findings demonstrate that brand effects may vary over time. To identify a population effect size across all experiments, a meta-analysis was conducted. The meta-analysis shows that-overall-the EU-brand has a small but significant positive effect on citizens' trust in policies. The article tests earlier findings, and discusses intricacies of conducting replications. It elaborates explanations for the results in the replications, and the replication problems with experiments based on evaluative conditioning