Denmark represents a rare success story when it comes to electronic patient records. The country has made great progress due to the judicious use of incentives and regulations, plus a focus on the interoperability of various systems rather than using a single one, according to research published by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
An EIU report, "Future-proofing Western Europe's healthcare: A study of five countries," identifies important innovations in management and treatment models in Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.K. Sponsored by Eucomed, an organization representing 22,500 designers, manufacturers, and suppliers of medical technology, the report identifies important innovations in management and treatment models in these countries, and provides a look at how governments are expected to tackle health problems over the next two decades.
The report emphasizes that lifestyle choices are leading to higher rates of chronic disease in Europe, noting that more than one in five residents of the countries profiled are smokers and drink alcohol heavily, and a substantial proportion are overweight or obese. The treatment of people with numerous, ongoing conditions will require a shift from healthcare systems whose foundations are based on acute care to healthcare systems in which different providers can offer coordinated ongoing care, according to the report's project director Aviva Freudmann.
Despite warnings of healthcare budgets being swamped by a "silver tsunami," aging populations account for only a small increase in health spending each year at around 0.5%, the authors noted. They think the most significant healthcare impact of aging will be the increasing number of people with multiple chronic conditions: 40% of Europeans older than age 50 have more than one such disease.
Case studies in the report are based on in-depth interviews with 28 experts and healthcare practitioners. The authors identify several projects that have lessons for others:
In Denmark, adoption of electronic records has resulted in lower costs, reduced paperwork, and improved quality of care due to easily accessible outcomes data and analysis.
New regional health agencies have been established in France that are intended to create a highly coordinated health system. The new agencies will be responsible for all aspects of medical care provision, long-term care for the elderly and disabled, health environmental issues, monitoring of public health, and health education.
As a result of the German government's efforts to subsidize integrated care, 6,000 integrated care contracts that have treated more than 4 million patients have been implemented. This initiative has improved patient outcomes substantially while cutting costs, the authors wrote.
Privatization in the Netherlands is a relatively new initiative and has been shown to bring some benefits to patients. How well a system based entirely on private insurance and regulated to insure universal coverage will work still remains to be determined.
An initiative by the National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K. to create national databases of patient recorded outcomes measures will help doctors better understand the impact of treatments. The report specifically noted that heart surgery mortality in the U.K. has been dramatically reduced with the publication of outcomes data by the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
A downloadable copy of the report is available for free at the EIU website.
