Following the US experience, activity-based funding has become the most common mechanism for reimbursing hospitals in Europe. Focusing on five European countries (England, Finland, France, Germany and Ireland), this paper reviews the motivation for introducing activity-based funding, together...

Im Zuge des GKV-Modernisierungsgesetzes wird seit dem 1. 1. 2004 eine sog. Praxisgebühr von 10 Euro pro Quartal für ambulante Arzt- und Zahnarztbesuche erhoben. Neben einem Beitrag zur Konsolidierung der Finanzlage der GKV sollte die Praxisgebühr auch eine Verhaltensänderung der Versicherten...

Objective To examine the price reactions of German pharmacies to changes made to OTC drug regulations in 2004. Prior to these changes, regulations guaranteed identical prices in all German pharmacies.Methods Two years after market deregulation, 256 pharmacies were surveyed to determine the...

Modern health care presents challenges for science and technology that go well beyond surgical procedures and physiological monitoring. But although technology is making a rod for policymakers’ backs, it may also be throwing them a lifeline. The research focus is increasingly on information...