Annual EU healthcare index puts The Netherlands in “uncontested leadership”

The Netherlands win the 2009 Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI), for the second year in a row - the first time this happens since the EHCI started in 2005 - and with an outstanding margin. Nevertheless, Denmark keeps its runner-up position from last year.

Besides the Dutch and Danish system there is a small group of strong performers: Iceland, Austria and Switzerland.There are general improvement trends among most of the measured healthcare systems, with examples of reform making impact not only in Netherlands but in Ireland and the Czech Republic as well.

There is continuous decline in the Spanish, Portuguese and Greek healthcare systems which do not keep up with the improvement rate one can find in countries like the Netherlands, Denmark or Ireland. Large parts of Eastern and Central Europe seem to be affected by the financial crisis.

The HCP research director, Dr. Arne Bjornberg, comments on the EHCI 2009 outcomes: "As the Netherlands are expanding their lead among the best performing countries, the Index indicates that the Dutch might have found a successful approach. It combines competition for funding and provision within a regulated framework. There are information tools to support active choice among consumers.

The Netherlands have started working on patient empowerment early, which now clearly pays off in many areas.Johan Hjertqvist, President of Health Consumer Powerhouse, commented: "With patient mobility growing around Europe, there is a strong need for transparency exposing the pros and cons of the national healthcare systems. The EU intends to introduce a crossborder care scheme which requires significantly better information to patients. This years´ measurement indicates that forward-looking governments start using healthcare information and choice to engage patients in the decision-making, building a pressure from below for improvement".


EHCI categories
The EHCI 2009 groups 38 indicators of quality into six categories: Patient rights and information, e-Health, Waiting time for treatment, Outcomes, Range and reach of services provided and Pharmaceuticals. Each sub-discipline is weighted for importance to provide the overall Index score.The individual category leaders were as follows:

• Patient rights and information: Denmark
• e-Health: Denmark, Netherlands
• Waiting time for treatment: Albania, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland
• Outcomes: Sweden
• Range and reach of services provided: Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden
• Pharmaceuticals: Denmark, Netherlands

The 2009 EHCI is developed in co-operation with the European Commission DG Information Society and Media and works under the auspices of the Swedish EU Presidency.