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The six chapters in this volume were prepared for a one-day conference, “Improving Health System Efficiency: Achieving Better Value for Money”, held on 17 September 2008 in Brussels. Jointly organised by the European Commission and the OECD, the purpose of the conference was to assess policies leading to more rational use of resources in the health care sector and the potential of such policies to promote long-term sustainability of health systems. Attendees included officials of the two hosting institutions and other international organisations, representatives of their member countries who hold policy-setting positions and technical experts.
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This chapter provides a broad overview of care coordination issues and approaches in OECD and European Union (EU) countries. It also looks at how health care systems are responding to the increasing prevalence of chronic disease and the scope for improved health system performance through enhanced policies in this area.
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This chapter examines current reliance of OECD countries on cost sharing and user charges in health care. It then looks at some European policy innovations and reviews some important results from the RAND health insurance experiment in the United States using variable levels of user charges. The chapter concludes with comments on the future role of user charges in developed health systems.