At the end of April, the EC expert group on health systems performance assessment (HSPA) composed of European countries health authorities and international organisations, published its first report: "So What? Strategies across Europe to assess quality of care".
The HSPA expert group, set up in 2014, provides participating countries with a forum to exchange experience on the use of HSPA at national level. It also aims to support national policy-makers by identifying tools and methodologies for developing HSPA. The overarching aim of this work is to build better health systems across the EU that help people remain healthy and ensure access to good quality healthcare for those in need.
This first report focuses on quality of care. It is based on the exchange of experiences and knowledge among countries and with international organisations between 2014 and 2015. It sets out a selection of country cases, analyses them and draws general conclusions. The aim is to provide useful recommendations for policy makers who want to design, set up, run and evaluate a system to assess quality of care.
The guidelines are accessible here: http://ec.europa.eu/health/systems_performance_assessment/docs/sowhat_en.pdf
EFA patient-evidence projects
EFA evidence-based and patient-centred multiannual projects always aim at improving the sustainability and performance of healthcare systems in Europe by providing a baseline and recommendations from patients on a topic prioritized by our membership. Our recent example are the recommendations arising from the HEY YA! Report on what is needed to support the adherence of young people with asthma in Europe.
EFA projects on COPD identified 8 minimum standards of care for COPD patients in Europe and investigated the current situation related to reimbursement, early diagnosis and rehabilitation services in 19 countries in Europe, with the aim of harmonising the approach to COPD patients among European healthcare systems. In the framework of the EU-funded project EARIP, EFA analysed and assessed the outcomes of 7 national and regional asthma management programmes and guidelines in Europe, in order to identify key success factors and to promote change in the healthcare systems accordingly.
To know more about our projects, please visit our research section.