Policy briefs and summaries

Policy briefs and summaries are small reports tailored to the needs of health policy makers for informing them about available evidence on specific questions and issues. They follow a systematic way of marshalling the evidence and tend to focus more on the policy relevance and implementation of any policy options. The material is presented in an accessible and user-friendly format.

In the wake of the pandemic: preparing for Long COVID (2021)

OBS policy brief 39 (2021)
Regulating the unknown: a guide to regulating genomics for health policy-makers (2021)

OBS policy brief 38 (2020)
Building on value-based health care: towards a health system perspective (2020)

OBS policy brief 37 (2020)
Strengthening health systems resilience: key concepts and strategies (2020)

OBS policy brief 36 (2020)
Living longer, but in better or worse health? (2020)

Economics of healthy and active ageing series
Screening. When is it appropriate and how can we get it right? (2020)

OBS policy brief 35 (2020)
How to enhance the integration of primary care and public health? Approaches, facilitating factors and policy options (2020)

OBS policy brief 34 (2020)
Working at older ages: why it’s important, how it affects health, and the policy options to support health capacity for work (2019)

Economics of Health and Active Ageing series (2019)
Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: Will population ageing lead to uncontrolled health expenditure growth? (2019)

Economics of Health and Active Ageing series (2019)
It’s the governance, stupid!

OBS policy brief 33 (2019)
Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: implications of different revenue raising mechanisms and policy options (2019)

Economics of Health and Active Ageing series (2019)
Averting the AMR crisis

OBS policy brief 32 (2019)
Will population ageing spell the end of the welfare state? A review of evidence and policy options (2019)

Economics of Healthy and Active Ageing series (2018)
Connecting food systems for co-benefits: how can food systems combine diet-related health with environmental and economic policy goals?

OBS policy brief 31 (2018)
Ensuring access to medicines: How to redesign pricing, reimbursement and procurement?

OBS policy brief 30 (2018)
Ensuring access to medicines: How to stimulate innovation to meet patients' needs?

OBS policy brief 29 (2018)
Making the economic case for investing in health systems. What is the evidence that health systems advance economic and fiscal objectives?

OBS Health and wealth series - policy brief 1 (2018)
Using economic evidence to help make the case for investing in health promotion and disease prevention

OBS Health and wealth series - policy brief 2 (2018)
How do we ensure that innovation in health service delivery and organization is implemented, sustained and spread?

OBS Health and wealth series - policy brief 3 (2018)
What is the experience of decentralized hospital governance in Europe?

OBS policy brief 28 (2018)
How to make sense of health system efficiency comparisons?

OBS policy brief 27 (2017)
How to support integration to promote care for people with multimorbidity in Europe?

OBS policy brief 26 (2017)
How can eHealth improve care for people with multimorbidity in Europe?

OBS policy brief 25 (2017)
How to strengthen financing mechanisms to promote care for people with multimorbidity in Europe?

OBS policy brief 24 (2017)
How to improve care for people with multimorbidity in Europe?

OBS policy brief 23 (2017)
How to strengthen patient centredness in caring for people with multimorbidity in Europe?

OBS policy brief 22 (2017)
How can voluntary cross-border collaboration in public procurement improve access to health technologies in Europe?

OBS policy brief 21 (2016)
How can structured cooperation between countries address health workforce challenges related to highly specialized health care?

OBS policy brief 20 (2016)
Investing in health literacy

OBS policy brief 19 (2016)
How can countries address the efficiency and equity implications of health professional mobility in Europe?

OBS policy brief 18 (2015)
What do we know about the strengths and weakness of different policy mechanisms to influence health behaviour in the population?

OBS policy summary 15 (2014)
Cross-border health care in Europe

OBS policy summary 14 (2014)
Public reporting in health and long-term care to facilitate provider choice

OBS policy summary 13 (2014)
Economic crisis, health systems and health in Europe: Impact and implications for policy (policy summary) (2015)

OBS policy summary 12 (2014)
What is the evidence on the economic impacts of integrated care?

OBS policy summary 11 (2014)
Addressing needs in the public health workforce in Europe

OBS policy summary 10 (2014)
Matching form to function: Designing organizational models to support knowledge brokering in European health systems

OBS policy summary 9 (BRIDGE series) (2013)
Learning from one another: Enriching interactive knowledge-sharing mechanisms to support knowledge brokering in European health systems

OBS policy summary 8 (BRIDGE series) (2013)
Communicating clearly: Enhancing information-packaging mechanisms to support knowledge brokering in European health systems

OBS policy summary 7 (BRIDGE series) (2013)
Promoting health, preventing disease: is there an economic case?

OBS policy summary 6 (2013)
How can knowledge brokering be advanced in a country’s health system?

OBS policy brief 17 (BRIDGE series) (2013)
How can knowledge brokering be better supported across European health systems?

OBS policy brief 16 (BRIDGE series) (2013)
Health policy responses to the financial crisis in Europe

HEN-OBS policy summary 5 (2012)

Health system performance comparison: an agenda for policy, information and research

HEN-OBS policy summary 4 (2012)

Using audit and feedback to health professionals to improve the quality and safety of health care

HEN-OBS policy summary 3 (2010)

Assessing future health workforce needs

HEN-OBS policy summary 2 (2010)

How to create an attractive and supportive working environment for health professionals

HEN-OBS policy brief No.15 (2010)

How to create conditions for adapting physicians’ skills to new needs and lifelong learning

HEN-OBS policy brief No. 14 (2010)

How can telehealth help in the provision of integrated care?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.13 (2010)

How can gender equity be addressed through health systems?

HEN-OBS policy brief No. 12 (2009)

How can European states design efficient, equitable and sustainable funding systems for long-term care for older people?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.11 (2009)

How can health systems respond to population ageing?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.10 (2009)

Addressing financial sustainability in health systems

HEN-OBS policy summary 1 (2009)

Do lifelong learning and revalidation ensure that physicians are fit to practice?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.9 (2008)

How can optimal skill mix be effectively implemented and why?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.8 (2008)

How can the migration of health service professionals be managed so as to reduce any negative effects on supply?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.7 (2008)

How can chronic disease management programmes operate across care settings and providers?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.6 (2008)

When do vertical (stand-alone) programmes have a place in health systems?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.5 (2008)

How can the settings used to provide care to older people be balanced?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.4 (2008)

Where are the patients in decision-making about their own care?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.3 (2008)

How can the impact of health technology assessments be enhanced?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.2 (2008)

How can European health systems support investment in and the implementation of population health strategies?

HEN-OBS policy brief No.1 (2008)

National Diabetes Plans in Europe - What lessons are there for the prevention and control of chronic diseases in Europe?

OBS policy brief (2016)
Fighting against cancer today: A policy summary

Main conclusions arising from analysis carried out under the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union (January-June 2008)
Capacity Planning in Health Care: A Review of the International Experience

No. 13, 2008
Day Surgery: Making it Happen

No. 12, 2007
Health care outside hospital: Accessing generalist and specialist care in 8 countries

No. 11, 2006
Screening in Europe

No. 10, 2006
Cross Border Health Care in Europe

No. 9, 2005
Health technology assessment: An introduction to objectives, role of evidence, and structure in Europe

No. 8, 2005
Mental health I: Key issues in the development of policy and practice across Europe

No. 7, 2004
Mental health II: Balancing institutional and community-based care

No. 7, 2004
Mental health III: Funding mental health in Europe

No. 7, 2004
Reducing hospital beds: what are the lessons to be learned?

No. 6, 2004
Configuring the hospital in the 21st century

No. 5, 2004
Funding health care: Options for Europe

No. 4, 2002
Health care in central Asia

No. 3, 2002
Regulating entrepreneurial behaviour in Europe

No. 2, 2002
Hospitals in a changing Europe

No. 1, 2002
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