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Competition

Designing publicly funded healthcare markets

 

 26 November 2018  Paris  

Many people depend on publicly funded healthcare to lead a productive, fulfilling, and satisfying life. While there is little guidance on where, or how, to introduce choice and competition in healthcare services, there has nevertheless been a steady movement towards the greater use of market mechanisms to improve the quality and efficiency of these services.

This is important because the quality and efficiency of these services contributes to both productivity and inclusivity. On the first count, more efficient healthcare services not only directly boost public sector, and therefore total, productivity, but also boost the productivity of workers across the economy (e.g. fewer long-term health problems). On the second, giving choice between publicly funded healthcare services rather than people having to rely on “voice” to demand better services can enable poorer citizens to obtain more equal treatment, helping inclusiveness.

However, in the wake of the financial crisis, tight government budgets, and a fear of so-called neo-liberalism appear to have created push-back that has slowed and in some cases reversed this progress. In November 2018, the OECD held a roundtable discussion to share the experience and lessons learned on what has worked well, and what has worked badly. All related materials for the discussion are available on this page.

» Read the OECD background note

» Executive Summary with key findings • Synthèse des points clés de la discussion

» Detailed Summary of the discussion • Compte rendu detaillé de la discussion 

» See full list of best practice roundtables on competition

 

INVITED SPEAKERS

Allan FELS Bio   

Professor, University of Melbourne, Monash & Oxford and 
former Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission presenting Competition in Public Markets

Laura HARTMAN Bio
Associate Professor, Uppsala University, Sweden presenting Challenges in designing publicly funded healthcare markets

 

READ ALSO 

The Public Service Mutual: Theories of Motivational Advantage Link to an external site icon by Julian LEGRAND Bio 
Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics

 

KEY PAPERS

» OECD Background note • Note de réflexion de l'OCDE

» Note by R. Croes, J. van Manen, M. Mikkers 

Summaries of contributions

Argentina

Austria

Bulgaria

Chinese Taipei

Croatia

Estonia

Finland

Indonesia 

Italy

Lithuania

Norway

Romania

Russian Federation

Singapore

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom


 

 

» Read the OECD background note

» Watch a video about the other topics under discussion in Nov 2018

» OECD Competition Youtube channel

PRESENTATIONS

 

RELATED BEST PRACTICE ROUNDTABLES

Competition in Public Markets, 2017 Global Forum on Competition discussion

Competition in Hospital Services, 2012

Competition in the Provision of Hospital Services, 2005 

RELATED TOPICS

Liberalisation and competition intervention in regulated sectors

Pro-competitive Policy Reforms

OECD best practice roundtables on competition

More OECD work on competition

 

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