EU enlargement has facilitated the mobility of EU citizens, including health professionals, from the 2004 and 2007 EU accession states. Fears have been raised about a mass exodus of health professionals and the consequences for the operation of health systems. However, to date a systematic...

Dramatic increases in health expenditures have led to a substantial number of regulatory interventions in the markets for devices over the last years. However, little attention has been paid thus far to the regulation of medical devices and its effects. This article explores the policies pursued...

In 2011, the EU Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross Border Healthcare was approved, including a regulation on mutual recognition of prescriptions.

This paper proposes a framework for analyzing arrangements set up to facilitate cross-border mobility of patients in the European Union. Exploiting both conceptual analysis and data from a range of case studies carried out in a number of European projects, and building on Walt and Gilson's model...

This paper explores the goals and implementation of reforms introducing choice of and competition among insurers providing statutory health coverage in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In theory, health insurance competition can enhance efficiency in health care administration...

This paper explores leadership and governance arrangements in seven developed health systems: Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. It presents a cybernetic model of leadership and governance comprising three fundamental functions: priority setting,...

The use of evidence-based clinical guidelines is an essential component of chronic disease management. However, there is well-documented concern about variability in the quality of clinical guidelines, with evidence of persisting methodological shortcomings. The most widely accepted approach to...