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Healthcare Reform

 

UK NHS patients to get “largest expansion of patient choice in a decade”

Pilots to test offering UK NHS patients a choice of multiple providers, including private ones, for certain types of routine out-of-hospital care will begin in selected local areas in the autumn, in what the UK government is hailing as “the largest expansion of patient choice in the NHS in a decade”. The new options for patients could help reduce waiting lists and improve care, but risk being underutilised, as has been the fate of the NHS’ other choice-expanding initiatives to date.

Lauterbach’s German hospital reform set to launch

Germany’s cabinet government has approved Health Minister Karl Lauterbach’s controversial hospital reform. The draft law will now go to the Bundestag, where it is likely to pass. After several months of political wrangling, the final version is focused on moving hospital financing away from DRG-based fee-per-service payments. 

What can be learnt from Korea’s doctor strike?

Junior doctors in South Korea are striking in protest of the government’s decision to increase the country’s cap on medical school places by 65%, claiming it would negatively impact the quality of medical education and not fix the country’s health care shortages. With workforce being a major issue in health systems across the world — and one that is set to become increasingly pressing as populations age — this could be a portent of what is to come elsewhere.

Is the future of care at home?

The centre of gravity of the health and care sector is shifting away from hospitals and nursing homes. Capacity and resource constraints combined with policy pushes for greater access in the community and advances in medtech mean that over the coming decades an increasing amount of care will be delivered in an outpatient setting and at home. But Joseph Musgrave, CEO of Home & Community Care Ireland, Ireland’s trade association for domiciliary care providers, warns us there is a major stumbling block: almost every country lacks a structured career pathway for carers.

A bright future for Finnish providers

Positive results from three Finnish healthcare giants indicate the market is on an exciting trajectory. Janne-Olli Järvenpää, CEO of Mehiläinen, the largest of the three groups, explains the opportunities for both outsourcing and private-pay - and how independent operators can make the most of booming demand in what may be Europe's "most advanced healthcare market in terms of private-pay".

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