This study covers “tapering scale” mechanism in hospital payments, i.e. mechanisms linking unit prices to the volume of services produced. This paper begins with an overview of hospital services and hospital payment methods in OECD countries, focusing more specifically on DRG-based payment....

Taxes and other fiscal measures on health-related commodities are in widespread use. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products have been subjected to taxation for a long time in most countries. Several OECD governments have passed legislation to increase existing taxes or to introduce new taxes...

This paper examines wage setting mechanisms for health workers in hospitals across eight different OECD countries. It describes similarities and differences and how fixed or fluid these approaches have been in recent years through health system reforms, labour market dynamics and economic...

This Working Paper examines income-related inequalities in health care service utilisation in OECD countries. It extends a previous analysis (Van Doorslaer and Masseria, 2004) to 2008-2009 for 13 countries, and adds new results for 6 countries, for doctor and dentist visits, and cancer...

This paper summarises recent international data on rates of five surgical procedures (i.e. caesarean, hysterectomy, prostatectomy, hip replacement and appendectomy) across OECD countries. It examines trends over time and compares age- and sex-specific rates for a recent year, for a sub-set of...

As part of a wider project on mental health in OECD countries, a series of descriptive profiles have been prepared, intended to provide descriptive, easily comprehensible, highly informative accounts of the mental health systems of OECD countries. These profiles, entitled ‘Mental Health...

To help inform a conference organised by the Germany Ministry of Health (BMG) and the OECD on ‘Managing Hospital Volumes’ on the 11th April 2013, the OECD Secretariat produced this paper giving an international perspective on Germany’s situation and the current policy debate. It provides a...

Waiting times for elective (non-emergency) treatments are a key health policy concern in several OECD countries. This study describes common measures on waiting times across OECD countries from administrative data. It focuses on common elective procedures, like hip and knee replacement, and...

Health spending slowed markedly or fell in many OECD countries recently after years of continuous growth, according to OECD Health Data 2012. As a result of the global economic crisis which began in 2008, a zero rate of growth in health expenditure was recorded on average in 2010, and...

The economic crisis that started in 2008 has had a profound impact on the lives of citizens. Millions of people lost their job, saw their life-savings disappear and experienced prolonged financial hardship. The economic crisis has also led a number of OECD governments to introduce austerity...