Quality and equality of access to healthcare services : HealthQUEST country report for Finland

Verkkoversion ISBN 978-951-33-2071-3, ISSN 1795-8210 (pdf

Finland: Health System Review.

This analysis of the Finnish health system reviews developments in its organization and governance, financing, provision of services, health reforms and health system performance. Finland is a welfare state witha high standard of social and living conditions and a low poverty rate. Its health system has a highly decentralized administration, multiple funding sources, and three provision channels for statutory services in first-contact care: the municipal system, the national health insurance system, and occupational health care. The core health system is organized by the municipalities (i.e. local authorities) which are responsible for financing primary and specialized care. Health financing arrangements are fragmented, with municipalities, the health insurance system, employers and households all contributing substantial shares. The health system performs relatively well, as health services are fairly effective, but accessibility may be an issue due to long waiting times and relatively high levels of cost sharing. For over a decade, there has been broad agreement on the need to reform the Finnish health system, but reaching a feasible policy consensus has been challenging

Pharmaceutical regulation in 15 European countries: review

In the context of pharmaceutical care, policy-makers repeatedly face the challenge of balancing patient access to effective medicines with affordability and rising costs. With the aim of guiding the health policy discourse towards questions that are important to actual and potential patients, this study investigates a broad range of regulatory measures, spanning marketing authorization to generic substitution and resulting price levels in a sample of 16 European health systems (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Sweden). All countries employ a mix of regulatory mechanisms to contain pharmaceutical expenditure and ensure quality and efficiency in pharmaceutical care, albeit with varying configurations and rigour. This variation also influences the extent of publicly financed pharmaceutical costs. Overall, observed differences in pharmaceutical expenditure should be interpreted in conjunction with the differing volume and composition of consumption and price levels, as well as dispensation practices and their impact on measurement of pharmaceutical costs. No definitive evidence has yet been produced on the effects of different cost-containment measures on patient outcomes. Depending on the foremost policy concerns in each country, different levers will have to be used to enable the delivery of appropriate care at affordable prices