In October 2009 this question was posed to German, Swiss, Austrian and northern Italian experts at the European Health Congress. Speaking with Karoline Laarmann, Professor Günter Neubauer, Scientific Director of the European Health Congress, summarised the key features of good medical care and the different care models used in their four countries.
German health insurance funds do not use their customer data sufficiently, according to a study by consultancy agency Kienbaum, which also found that health insurers do not `cultivate a client-oriented culture´. (Clients = the medically insured).
To date, there is insufficient knowledge as to the cause of this disease, or how to prevent it. We asked some of our EH correspondents to report on measures taken in their countries to ensure that men are made more aware of this disease and whether screening services are provided for early prostate cancer detection.
Germans want a different healthcare system. 93% want individualised services — and they are prepared to pay for them, according to a study relating to the strategies of providers in Germany's healthcare system and their acceptance by the public.
Individual budgets can give people more choice, flexibility and control over their personal care, as well as a better quality of life, according to a pilot scheme evaluation report launched by Care Services Minister Phil Hope.
High-quality health services are a priority issue for European citizens. Rights to healthcare are also recognised in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. Health systems and health policies across the EU are becoming more interconnected than ever in the past.
The British public doesn't believe in the tax funded healthcare system. Within the next ten years they will have to pay for some NHS services, they assume in a BMA poll. Also the will to go abroad for medical services rises within the public.
British researchers found that the NHS and private healthcare are not providing good enough basic care to a large portion of the population in England. Particulary older and frailer people are suffering from lack of care.
Even in 2004, the medical costs for the care of stroke patients in Germany came to 7.1 billion euro. The neurologist Tobias Neumann-Haefelin of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt and his colleagues have calculated the projected number of strokes in the German federal state of Hesse for the year 2050.
The German chapter of anti-corruption organisation Transparency International had another close look at the German healthcare system. And it didn't like what it found: In an updated policy paper, member of the board of directors Anke Martiny, deplores that "huge amounts of money belonging to the insured are lost" due to lack of transparency, to corruption and fraud.
Uterine fibroids are the most common form of benign pelvic tumor, with about 30-50% of women between the ages of 35-45 years reporting them. Although many women are asymptomatic, those who experience the symptoms of bladder pressure, frequent and very heavy menstrual periods, and uterine pain, have a reduced quality of life.
Healthcare in Russia is currently undergoing a comprehensive reform process. In the early 1990s, a new source of funding for the public health system was established: mandatory medical insurance and general practitioners' offices as well as private medical practice.
"If you think 53 makes you old enough to retire, then fine, go ahead and retire. But don't expect the state to pay for it." President Nicolas Sarkozy, during his election campaign
In Germany, a comprehensive reimbursement system designed around Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) was introduced following the Health Reform Act of 2000. The previous method of payment, wherein the number of treatment days was multiplied by the amount allowed per treatment day, was discarded. The new DRG-based payment system requires the optimization of patient treatment, from admission to…
UK - Patients who miss medical appointments cost the country's National Health Service (NHS) around £575 million annually.
Status quo of cross-border access to healthcare systems within the EU-Member States.
The most expensive behavioural healthcare diagnosis, for sufferers and their insurers, is bipolar disorder, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry (160:1286-1290, July 2003).