The term “quality tools” is used in many different ways to refer to a method used by an individual, a team, an organization or a health system. It is most often used in a narrow sense in American texts to refer to a set of simple “continuous quality improvement” methods (CQI tools). More broadly,...
“Grey zone” treatments are those that rely upon the patient’s judgement of associated benefits versus harms. When clinicians judge patients are eligible for “grey zone” treatments, their acceptance should be consistent with informed patients’ values. The question is how can one obtain informe...
In most countries the pressure for health care reform is aimed at improving the efficiency, equity and effectiveness of the health sector. Emerging evidence shows that health care reforms can affect men and women differently, as a consequence of their different positions as users and producers of health ...
Health systems performance assessment (HSPA) varies across the WHO European Region. This review summarizes HSPA domains and indicators used by Member States in their HSPA or health system-related reports. Thirty Member States published in the English language and from their latest documents, 1485 distinc...
Intercultural mediators are employed to resolve linguistic and cultural barriers in a variety of health-care contexts. This report examines the main roles performed by intercultural mediators in health care across the WHO European Region and analyses evidence on their effectiveness in improving accessibi...
The provision of effective health care to linguistically and culturally diverse migrant populations has been identified as a crucial public health issue. This scoping review examines strategies that have been implemented and evaluated to address communication barriers experienced by refugees and migrants...
Systematic reviews are important for decision makers. They offer many potential benefits but are
often written in technical language, are too long, and do not contain contextual details which make them hard to
use for decision-making. There are many organizations that develop and disseminate derivative p...
There has been a dramatic upsurge of
entrepreneurialism in health care systems in
Europe, spurred by interests in better
efficiency and quality. The characteristics of
entrepreneurial behaviour include seeking
opportunity, promoting innovation, and
genuine accountability. However, experience
so far indic...
Health systems have developed at different speeds, and with differing degrees
of complexity throughout the twentieth century, reflecting the diverse political
and social conditions in each country.
Notwithstanding their diversity, all systems, however, share a common reason
for their existence, namely th...
For many people, the hospital has come to
symbolize the modern health care system.
Yet in many countries, the role of the acute
hospital is changing, with an emphasis on
outpatient diagnosis and treatment as well as
alternatives to long-term hospital care, leading to reductions in numbers of hospital
bed...
