Health systems performance assessment. A tool for health governance in the 21st century

In offices all around Europe, policy-makers are struggling with the health challenges of our time. Health authorities are working to manage and improve health system performance against a backdrop of growing public expectation and often limited financial resources. Many of these shared problems challenge the way we govern the health system: how to adapt health care to respond to an ageing population; what to prioritize in a difficult financial climate; how to tackle inequalities; how to meet increasing expectations of populations; how to assess which health technology is best; and how to balance health promotion, prevention activities and curative services.

In this context, health systems performance assessment (HSPA) is increasingly recognized as one of the tools that can be used to gather information to inform policymaking, to monitor progress and to identify best practices. HSPA can help optimize health systems for health authorities committed to improving the health of their people.

This brochure seeks to provide an overview of what HSPA is and how it can be used. High-level officials from Europe’s health ministries share how they found HSPA useful in their work, and experts who have put HSPA into practice provide their perspectives on the process and outcomes.