Implications of future EU policy on the provision of medicines and on actors in the European pharmaceutical sector

Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, die wachsende Rolle der EU im europäischen Arzneimittelmarkt, insbesondere in Hinblick auf Akteure und Mitgliedstaaten zu untersuchen. Dies erfolgt in drei Schritten: (1) ein Review der Rollen und Trends der Akteure des europäischen pharmazeutischen Marktes, einschließlich der EU und ihrer Mitgliedsstaaten; (2) Entwicklung von Zukunftsszenarien für die europäische pharmazeutische Politik; und (3) eine Analyse der Auswirkung dieser Szenarien auf die verschiedenen Akteure im europäischen Arzneimittelmarkt. Online-Version im Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin (www.univerlag.tu-berlin.de) erschienenThe main objective of this thesis is to examine the impact of the EU on the various players in the European pharmaceutical market. This is done in three steps: (1) a review of the roles, historical context and trends of the actors in the European pharmaceutical market, including the European Union and Member States; (2) the development of future scenarios for EU pharmaceutical policy; and (3) an analysis of the impact of these scenarios on the various actors in the EU pharmaceutical sector. Online-Version published by Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin (www.univerlag.tu-berlin.de

Who should be vaccinated first? Comparing vaccine prioritization strategies in Israel and European countries using the Covid-19 Health System Response Monitor

The rapid rollout of Israel’s vaccination program has led to considerable international interest. In this brief commentary we consider how the criteria for vaccination priority groups differ between Israel and selected European countries. We argue that following the Israeli approach of using broad criteria for prioritization— i.e. having fewer groups and a lower age threshold— could have several beneficial effects, including more manageable logistics and fewer roll out delays, as well as potentially reducing pressure on hospitals. With an increasing supply of vaccines becoming available rapidly in much of Europe, countries could consider following the approach of Israel and adopting broader priority criteria going forward

Power and Purchasing: Why Strategic Purchasing Fails

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162754/2/milq12471.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162754/1/milq12471_am.pd

Major challenges ahead for Hungarian healthcare

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively

Perspective: lessons from COVID-19 of countries in the European region in light of findings from the health system response monitor

Introduction: Decision-makers initially had limited data to inform their policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The research community developed several online databases to track cases, deaths, and hospitalizations; however, a major deficiency was the lack of detailed information on how health systems were responding to the pandemic and how they would need to be transformed going forward. Approach: In an eort to fill this information gap, in March 2020, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, the WHO European Regional Oce and the European Commission created the COVID-19 Health System Response Monitor (HSRM) to collect and organise up-to-date information on how health systems, mainly in the WHO European Region, were responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: The HSRM analysis and broader Observatory work on COVID-19 shone light on a range of health system challenges and weaknesses and catalogued policy options countries put in place during the pandemic to address these. Countries prioritised policies on investing in public health, supporting the workforce, maintaining financial stability, and strengthening governance in their response to COVID-19. Outlook: COVID-19 is likely to continue to impact health systems for the foreseeable future; the ability to cope with this pressure, and other shocks, depends on having good information on what other countries have done so that health systems develop adequate policy options. In support of this, the country information on the COVID-19 HSRM will remain available as a repository to inform decision makers on options for actions and possible measures against COVID-19 and other public health emergencies. Building on its previous work on health systems resilience, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies will sustain its focus on analysing key issues relate to the recovery from the pandemic and making health systems more resilient. This includes policy knowledge transfer between countries and systematic resilience testing, aiming at contributing to an improved understanding of health system response, recovery, and preparedness. Contribution to the literature in non-technical language: The COVID-19 Health System Response Monitor (HSRM) was the first database in the WHO European Region to collect and organise up-to-date information on how health systems were responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The HSRM provides a repository of policies which can be used to inform decision makers in health and other policy domains on options for action and possible measures against COVID-19 and other public health emergencies. This initiative proved particularly valuable, especially during the early phases of the pandemic, when there was limited information for countries to draw on as they formulated their own policy response to the pandemic. Our perspectives paper highlights some key challenges within health systems that the HSRM was able to identify during the pandemic and considers policy options countries put in place in response. Our research contributes to literature on emergency responses and recovery, health systems performance assessment, particularly health system resilience, and showcases the Observatory experience on how to design such a data collection tool, as well as how to leverage its findings to support cross-country learning

The role of the 2011 patients' rights in cross-border health care directive in shaping seven national health systems: looking beyond patient mobility

Reports on the implementation of the Directive on the application of Patients' Rights in Cross-border Healthcare indicate that it had little impact on the numbers of patients seeking care abroad. We set out to explore the effects of this directive on health systems in seven EU Member States. Key informants in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Malta, Poland and The Netherlands filled out a structured questionnaire. Findings indicate that the impact of the directive varied between countries and was smaller in countries where a large degree of adaptation had already taken place in response to the European Court of Justice Rulings. The main reforms reported include a heightened emphasis on patient rights and the adoption of explicit benefits packages and tariffs. Countries may be facing increased pressure to treat patients within a medically justifiable time limit. The implementation of professional liability insurance, in countries where this did not previously exist, may also bring benefits for patients. Lowering of reimbursement tariffs to dissuade patients from seeking treatment abroad has been reported in Poland. The issue of discrimination against non-contracted domestic private providers in Estonia, Finland, Malta and The Netherlands remains largely unresolved. We conclude that evidence showing that patients using domestic health systems have actually benefitted from the directive remains scarce and further monitoring over a longer period of time is recommende