The policy issue and supporting policy-makers
The policy issue to be addressed and its significance
The fellowship funding opportunity has been developed in light of Canada’s commitment to provide the best possible health system in the face of (mounting) resource pressures. This tension has lead to explicit concerns for health care system sustainability and a demand for approaches to governance and accountability that will support equitable access to essential, high quality health care. Performance assessment and comparison are key to these goals and this fellowship opportunity revolves around their role in policy-making.
Research in the area of comparative health system performance offers policy-makers one of the tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health system. Without measurement or comparison, it is difficult to identify superior and suboptimal delivery practice, to design appropriate health system reforms, and to protect patients or payers. Without measurement, there can be little accountability to citizens, patients and payers for the actions and outcomes of the health system. Furthermore it becomes impossible to benchmark against others, to learn from international experience and to convince citizens that they are getting services that work.
There has been an enormous increase in the capacity for measurement and analysis of the last decade, driven in no small part by massive changes in information technology and measurement methodology. However, Canada and its international counterparts are still in the relatively early stages. There are many challenges in designing and implementing appropriate performance measurement and in interpreting the results. There are also risks of significant abuses when there is a focus on partial aspects of performance that may lead to poor policy choices which undermine health system and societal goals.
The policy issue and supporting policy-makers
The Observatory is working directly with policy-makers, generating evidence that relates to their immediate concerns and reviewing it with them to understand the policy uses and abuses of performance measurement and comparison. It will involve the CIHR fellow in work that is relevant to Europe and to Canada, building on credible initiatives to:
- Highlight the policy relevance of performance measurement
- Indicate what cannot be inferred from the analysis
- Identify the limitations of current measures and
- Suggest fruitful future improvements to strengthen methodologies and analysis and the way they contribute to policy-makers so that they ultimately enhance performance in practice.
Given the nature and power of comparisons the international aspect of the fellowship is a particular strength and will make the networks involved rich for work in Canada and Europe.
The Science Policy Fellow will be expected to mobilize their research background to contribute to policy dialogues, policy briefs and other knowledge transfer undertakings and to help ensure research is shaped in response to policy priorities and that policy is formulated in light of the best available research.
