Society and Economy
Volume/Issue:
Volume 34: Issue 2
Assessment of patient payment policy in CEE countries: From a conceptual framework to policy indicators
Authors:
Milena Pavlova Maastricht University Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University Medical Center; Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences Maastricht The Netherlands

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,
Marzena Tambor

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,
Tetiana Stepurko

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Godefridus Merode Maastricht University Department of Health Services Research, CAPHRI, Maastricht University Medical Center; Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences Maastricht The Netherlands

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, and
Wim Groot

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Pages:
193–220
Online Publication Date:
08 Jun 2012
Publication Date:
01 Jun 2012
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/socec.34.2012.2.2
Keywords:
patient charges; policy assessment; Central and Eastern Europe; I11; I18
Restricted access

The lack of systematic research on the assessment of patient payment policies emphasizes the need to evaluate the mechanisms of official patient charges. This paper aims to contribute to this research area by outlining a comprehensive framework for the assessment of patient payment policies, and by validating it on data for six CEE countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine). Three broad groups of assessment criteria are included in the framework: policy context, policy content and policy effects. Within each of these groups, several sub-groups of criteria are defined. Our application of the assessment framework to the six CEE countries shows its relevance for the comparison of patient payment policy across countries, and for outlining common policy options. At the same time, it also reveals the need of collecting data on other relevant indicators that are not included in this paper, as well as for updating indicators already included. Research on patient payments will be essential for a continuous monitoring of patient payment policies (e.g. those in CEE) and their prompt adjustment.

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Society and Economy
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