Value for Money in Health Spending
Health spending continues to rise inexorably, growing faster than the economy in most OECD countries. Most of this spending comes from the public purse. Given the recent economic downturn, countries are looking for ways to improve the efficiency of health spending. This publication examines current efforts to improve health care efficiency, including tools that show promise in helping health systems provide the best care for their money, such as pay for performance, co-ordination of care, health technology assessment and clinical guidelines, pharmaceutical re-imbursement and risk-sharing agreements, and information and communication technology.
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Drawing all the Benefits from Pharmaceutical Spending
OECD countries’ pharmaceutical policies generally focus on three main objectives: making medicines accessible and affordable to patients; containing public spending growth, and providing incentives for future innovation. This chapter provides a brief review of current pharmaceutical reimbursement and pricing policies in OECD countries, as well as short-term measures adopted in response to the economic crisis. It then focuses in particular on two important issues: decisions pertaining to the coverage of new products with high costs and/or uncertain benefits, and the development of generic markets.
Also available in: French
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