2.L. Round table: Monitoring health reforms to inform policy innovation: the Health Systems and Policies Monitor
Authors:   Organised by: Technische Universität Berlin (Germany), European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies,   Chair persons: Katherine Polin (Germany), Ewout Van Ginneken (Germany)
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies’ (Observatory) Health Systems and Policy Monitor (HSPM) network convenes an international group of around 50 national health systems researchers from over 40 institutions across 31 high-income countries, including all EU countries, Canada, Israel, the UK and the US. In advance of the HSPM annual meeting, experts share the current year’s “top-three” health reforms in their countries via a standardized survey, soliciting details on content and general implementation processes. Reforms are iteratively organized into to 2 of 11 clusters, derived from the WHO health system building blocks. Experts then discuss background, status and content of national reforms in the year’s main clusters and initiate cross-country collaborations. A repository of over 650 reforms since 2018 has been created and is available online, showcasing reform patterns in HSPM countries. The collected data have informed studies on reform trends in HSPM countries from 2018-2019 and between 2020-2022, with work ongoing. Data are also consulted by researchers and policymakers wishing to learn about and from reforms in other countries.
This workshop specifically aims to:
• Inform participants about the methodologies used by the HSPM network to track reforms
• Highlight common trends in major health reforms across countries since 2018
• Discuss national health reforms and the value of understanding and tracking these across countries
• Identify research gaps in reform monitoring relevant to policy makers
• Discuss how the health system research community can generate more relevant and actionable evidence

Added-value
The comparative analysis of reform trends provides insights into how systems operate and the types of reforms more likely to be implemented. The sharing of these insights also serves as a source of inspiration, allowing countries to learn from each other’s successes and failures and adopt proven best practices. This is relevant for policymakers and researchers striving to support health systems strengthening. Therefore, the workshop will support knowledge exchange between researchers and policymakers by (1) informing researchers and policymakers about similar ongoing reforms in other countries and (2) identifying areas where researchers can contribute to country reform agendas, and (3) stimulating interest in cross-country collaborative research on similar and topical reforms in different countries.

Format
This is a roundtable workshop chaired and moderated by the Observatory. An overview of reform trends and patterns since 2018 will set the scene, followed by an interactive discussion with policymakers and HSPM network members to (1) delve into trend dynamics and implications for health policy and research and (2) identify major (missing) research areas relevant to policymakers. In addition, we will leverage the geographic scope and expertise of the audience to reflect on the value of monitoring reforms.

Key messages
• Cross-country exchange of information on reform trends and implementation patterns can inspire future reforms and help policymakers identify promising policy approaches abroad.
• Knowledge exchange between researchers and policymakers helps to determine evidence gaps and to generate relevant and actionable evidence that can drive policy innovation.

Speakers/Panelists
Reinhard Busse
Berlin University of Technology, Berlin, Germany
Ines Fronteira
National School of Public Health - NOVA University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Iwona Kowalska-Bobko
Jagiellonian University Medical College, Institute of Public Health, Cracow, Poland
Isabel de La Mata
DG SANTE, European Commission, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Vesna-Kestrin Petric
Ministry of Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia