The trade-off between health system resiliency and efficiency: evidence from COVID-19 in European regions

Almeida, Álvaro

doi:10.1007/s10198-023-01567-w

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A resilient response to a shock to the health system like COVID-19 entails not only rapid responses, but also being prepared for such shocks. Preparedness does not only mean having excess capacity and resources, as some frameworks suggest [ 7 – 9 , 11 ], as these can represent difficult tradeoffs with efficiency, particularly in a stretched health system such as the Israeli one [ 79 ]. Preparedness also means having response plans in place, with a coordinated governance that enables following these plans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Israeli health system’s rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Rosen,

Hartal,

Waitzberg

2024

Isr J Health Policy Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The COVID-19 pandemic posed numerous challenges to health systems around the world. In addressing many of those challenges, Israel responded quite rapidly. While quick action is not an end in it itself, it can be important in responding to disease outbreaks. Some of Israel's rapid responses to the pandemic contributed significantly to population health and provided important learning opportunities for other countries. Main body Some of the most prominent Israeli rapid responses were related to vaccination. Israel led the world in the pace of its initial vaccine rollout, and it was also the first country to approve and administer booster vaccines to broad segments of the population. In addition, Israeli scholars published a series of timely reports analyzing vaccination impact, which informed policy in Israel and other countries. Israel was a rapid responder in additional areas of public health. These include the partial closure of its borders, the adoption of physical distancing measures, the use of digital surveillance technology for contact tracing, the use of wastewater surveillance to monitor viral spread, and the use of vaccine certificates ("green passes") to facilitate a return to routine in the face of the ongoing pandemic. Many factors contributed to Israel's capacity to repeatedly respond rapidly to a broad array of COVID-19 challenges. These include a national health insurance system that promotes public–private coordination, a system of universal electronic health records, a high level of emergency preparedness, a culture of focusing on goal attainment, a culture of innovation, and the presence of a strong scientific community which is highly connected internationally. In addition, some of the rapid responses (e.g., the rapid initial vaccination rollout) facilitated rapid responses in related areas (e.g., the analysis of vaccination impact, the administration of boosters, and the adoption of green passes). While rapid response can contribute to population health and economic resilience, it can also entail costs, risks, and limitations. These include making decisions and acting before all the relevant information is available; deciding without sufficient consideration of the full range of possible effects, costs, and benefits; not providing enough opportunities for the involvement of relevant groups in the decision-making process; and depleting non-renewable resources. Conclusions Based on our findings, we encourage leaders in the Israeli government to ensure that its emergency response system will continue to have the capacity to respond rapidly to large-scale challenges, whether of a military or civilian nature. At the same time, the emergency response systems should develop mechanisms to include more stakeholders in the fast-paced decision-making process and should improve communication with the public. In addition, they should put into place mechanisms for timely reconsideration, adjustment, and—when warranted—reversal of decisions which, while reasonable when reached, turn out to have been ill-advised in the light of subsequent developments and evidence. These mechanisms could potentially involve any or all branches of government, as well as the public, the press, and professional organizations. Our findings also have implications for health system leaders in other countries. The Israeli experience can help them identify key capacities to develop during non-emergency periods, thus positioning themselves to respond more rapidly in an emergency. Finally, health system leaders in other countries could monitor Israel's rapid responses to future global health emergencies and adopt selected actions in their own countries.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Israeli health system’s rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Rosen,

Hartal,

Waitzberg

2024

Isr J Health Policy Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Almeida (2024) suggests the existence of a trade-off between health system efficiency and health system resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Instead, empirical evidence here suggests that a good governance supports, associated with appropriate expenditures and investments, efficient and effective health infrastructure, disease surveillance systems and tools of health policy responses that improve the prevention and management of outbreaks and the treatment of infected patients (Coccia and Benati, 2024; Kluge et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective health systems facing pandemic crisis: lessons from COVID-19 in Europe for next emergencies

Coccia,

Benati

2024

IJHG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThe investigation goal is the analysis of the relation between healthcare expenditures and other resources, and COVID-19 fatality rates among European countries to design effective health policies for crisis management.Design/methodology/approachResearch methodology is based on descriptive statistics and various parametric methods, also including a linear model of regression to analyze basic relationships of variables under study.FindingsResults show that a lower COVID-19 fatality rate is associated with higher levels of health expenditure (% GDP), of healthcare expenditure per capita, health expenditure in preventive care (% GDP), hospitals per million inhabitants, physicians, nurses, hospital beds and curative acute care beds per 1,000 inhabitants. Regression analysis shows that a 1% increase in healthcare expenditures per capita of countries, it reduces the level of COVID-19 fatality rate by 0.74%. In fact, many countries in Eastern Europe with low healthcare expenditures per capita in 2019 (e.g., Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, etc.), they have experienced high COVID-19 fatality rates. Instead, a lot of countries in Western Europe, with high healthcare expenditures per capita, such as Germany, Denmark, Austria, and the Netherlands, they had resilient health systems to face pandemic crisis and lower COVID-19 fatality rates.Practical implicationsThese findings suggest strategies of systematic and continuous investments in healthcare, medical technologies, and ICT infrastructures to support effective health policy of crisis management in countries to face future pandemic crisis and other emergencies in society.Originality/valueThe explanation of critical role of high health expenditure (% GDP) and healthcare expenditure per capita to support robust health systems that bolster the resilience in nations to face health emergencies and worldwide crises.

show abstract

Design Resilient Health Systems to Face Crises: Learning from COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis in Europe to Avoid Learnings Lost

Coccia,

Benati

2024

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The trade-off between health system resiliency and efficiency: evidence from COVID-19 in European regions

Cited by 5 publications

References 31 publications

The Israeli health system’s rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Israeli health system’s rapid responses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Effective health systems facing pandemic crisis: lessons from COVID-19 in Europe for next emergencies

Design Resilient Health Systems to Face Crises: Learning from COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis in Europe to Avoid Learnings Lost

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About