Health Care Maintenance Organizations In Europe?

Is it useful to view the European health care sector as a series of Health Maintenance Organizations arranged on a national basis? This is the question posed by consultants Carter Edwards & Partners to senior executives within leading pharmaceutical companies in Europe.

CE says this is important to the pharmaceutical industry; the promotion of managed health is generally viewed as underlying the huge deal of activity in the USA. It adds that the issue is complex, not least because of the unique features of individual health care systems.

The HMOs came into being in the USA to manage health care costs efficiently. However, it was agreed that so long as health care is funded from taxation or social charges (as in Europe) it will be difficult to interpose commercial organizations such as HMOs between governments and health providers. This is despite the fact that taxpayers generally do not, whatever might be the findings of surveys, themselves wish to pay higher taxes to fund higher health costs, according to CE.