<OL><LI>Policy-makers responsible for publicly-funded drug programmes face continual pressures between the demand to accommodate a steady stream of new and more effective drugs and the ongoing requirement to control costs.</LI> <LI>In the face of these pressures, a growing number of OECD countries are applying...</li></li></ol>

<OL><LI>This study presents the results of a joint analysis of patterns of consumption, expenditure, and unit expenditure for a core set of drugs aimed at preventing and treating cardiovascular disease. The current study examines the relationships among three pharmaceutical variables (expenditure,...</li></ol>

Reference pricing systems are reimbursement ceilings set by payers in an effort to constrain pharmaceutical expenditure for a private or public drug benefit. In recent years, many governments have adopted reference pricing either as a replacement or in addition to product specific price...

La question des délais d’attente pour les interventions chirurgicales non urgentes financées sur fonds publics soulève des controverses et s’avère parfois déroutante. En particulier, alors que certains pays signalent des délais d’attente significatifs, d’autres en sont exempts. Les...

Waiting times for publicly-funded elective surgery are a major health policy concern in many OECD countries (like Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), but are not a concern in others (like Austria,...

Sometimes it is argued that the content of a reform is less important in determining whether or not it receives public and legislative approval than the timing of the proposal; the way in which the reform is presented; the discussions with stakeholders; and a multitude of other factors. The OECD...

There is much interest in the Japanese health care system from the perspective of other OECD countries. The Japanese health care system appears to perform well. What explains this apparently good performance? This paper aims both to provide a description of how the Japanese health system works...

<OL><LI>Health systems in OECD countries are under pressure to improve their performance. Against that background, this paper has three main aims: <OL><LI>To compare concepts of the ‘performance’ of health care systems developed by the WHO and by the OECD, with ‘performance frameworks’ adopted in...</li></ol></li></ol>

<OL><LI>Waiting times for elective surgery are a significant health policy concern in approximately half of all OECD countries. The main objectives of the OECD Waiting Times project were to: <I>i)</I> review policy initiatives to reduce waiting times in 12 OECD countries; and <I>ii)</I> to investigate the causes of...</i></i></li></ol>