Hospitals in a changing Europe (2002)

Edited by Martin Mckee & Judith Healy
Published by Open University Press
European Observatory on Health Care Systems series
2002, 295 pages
ISBN 0 335 20928 9 (Paperback) £22.50
ISBN 0 335 20929 7 (Hardback) £65.00

Hospitals of the future will confront difficult challenges: new patterns of disease, rapidly evolving medical technologies, ageing populations, and continuing budget constraints. This book explores the competing pressures facing policy-makers across Europe as they struggle to respond to these complex challenges. It argues that hospitals, as part of a larger health system, should focus on enhancing health outcomes while also responding to public expectations. Adopting a cross-national, cross-disciplinary perspective, the study assesses recent evidence on the factors driving hospital reform and the strategies used to improve organizational performance. It reviews the evidence from eastern as well as western Europe and combines academic research with real-world policy experience. It looks at the role of hospitals in enhancing health rather than simply processing patients. The book concludes that hospitals cannot be managed in isolation from society and the wider health system, and that policy-makers have a responsibility to define the broader health care goals that hospitals should strive to meet.

This book synthesizes current evidences in a readable and accessible form for all practitioners, policy-makers, academics and graduate level students concerned with health reform.