Αποδοτικότητα συστημάτων υγείας: επισκόπηση υφιστάμενων συστημάτων αξιολόγησης και η παρουσίαση ενός νέου σύνθετου συστήματος
Efficiency of health care systems: overview of existing evaluation systems and presentation of a new complex system

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Keywords
Αξιολόγηση συστημάτων υγείας ; Αποδοτικότητα συστημάτων υγείας ; Μεθοδολογία αξιολόγησης συστημάτων υγείας ; Ευρωπαϊκά συστήματα υγείας ; ΑσθενείςAbstract
Over recent years, the health care systems in European countries have been under important pressures for change and modernization due to the aging of population, the new costly therapeutic and diagnostic tools and the changing nosological profile. As a result of the above, health systems are called upon to maximize their efficiency in order to be able to meet the existing needs of the population.
Multiple methodologies for evaluating health systems have been proposed in the world literature. The purpose of benchmarking is to identify which health systems are most efficient and in which areas to set an example for others. Even the most efficient systems need improvement. It is therefore crucial to have an integrated and reliable evaluation methodology.
The present study provides an overview of existing evaluation methodologies, aiming to identify which are the key criteria considered in this type of benchmarking, what weights are applied to them and the perspective from which they are performed.
In the vast majority of the evaluation methodologies studied, institutions or experts were the evaluators and the voice of patients is rarely taken into account in such comparative performance evaluations.
The present study intended to fill this gap in patients' lack of opinion by proposing a methodology for evaluating the efficiency of Europeans’ healthcare systems that includes criteria that aim to cover the widest possible range of all aspects of a health system, including patients’ satisfaction.
The current methodology suggests 5 categories of criteria, which include subcategories and indicators. The main 5 categories are the state of health care with weight equal to 0.30, the health care services with weight 0.20, equality with weight 0.20, the finance with weight 0.15 and the patient satisfaction and their rights with weight 0.15.
The aim of the research is to identify and highlight through an integrated evaluation methodology all the weaknesses and strengths of each health system, so that appropriate measures can be taken to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.