Health spending slowed markedly or fell in many OECD countries recently after years of continuous growth, according to OECD Health Data 2012. As a result of the global economic crisis which began in 2008, a zero rate of growth in health expenditure was recorded on average in 2010, and...

The global economic crisis which began in 2008 has had a dramatic effect on health spending across OECD countries. Estimates of expenditure on health released back in 2012 showed that, for the first time, health spending had slowed markedly or fallen across many OECD countries after years of...

This paper reports on the progress in the research and development of the set of patient safety indicators developed by the Health Care Quality Indicators project. The indicators presented here have been recommended by an expert group for further consideration in international reporting on the...

In 2008, the OECD launched a survey to collect information on the health systems characteristics of member countries. This paper presents the informaton provided by 29 of these countries in 2009. It describes country-specific arrangements to organise the population coverage against health risks...

This report is an update to the OECD Health Working Paper No. 22, Health Care Quality Indicators Project: Initial Indicators Report that was based on data collected between 2003 and 2005 and released in 2006. That report presented the OECD’s initial work on developing a set of health care...

The United States has the largest professional nurse workforce in the world numbering close to 3 million but does not produce enough nurses to meet its growing demand. A shortage of close to a million professional nurses is projected to evolve by 2020. An emerging physician shortage will further...

<H2 align="left">The purpose of the System of Health Accounts</H2><P><OL><LI>Changes in health systems and concomitant health policy questions have been challenging the traditional system of health expenditure statistics over the last couple of decades. What are the major factors accounting for health expenditure growth? What...</li></ol></p></h2>