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Cross-border health care in Europe: clarifying patients’ rights.
Autor | Legido-Quigley
H, Passarani I, Knai C, Busse R, Palm W, Wismar M, McKee
M |
Verlag | BMJ 342: 364-367 (DOI:
10.1136/bmj.d296) |
Abstract
The adoption of a new directive on
cross-border healthcare in Europe could bring clarity for patients,
health professionals, and policy makers, as well as raising awareness
of how healthcare differs between EU member states, say Helena
Legido-Quigley and colleagues.
A proposal for a directive on
patients' rights in cross-border healthcare-defined as healthcare
provided or prescribed in a member state other than that of
affiliation-is currently being discussed by the European Parliament
and the Council of Health Ministers. 1 The Directive on the
Application of Patients' Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare (
ec.europa.eu/health/ph_overview/co_operation/healthcare/docs/COM_en.pdf
[1] ) could provide greater clarity on the rules governing patients
travelling abroad to receive treatment. Moreover it could affect
individual member states' national health systems.
We
should be concerned about how this issue is resolved. First, European
citizens show a growing interest in travelling abroad to receive
treatment. 2 3 A recent survey in all member states found that 53%
overall expressed a willingness to seek treatment in another country
of the European Union (EU). 2 This finding was supported by surveys
among German patients enrolled with a nationwide health insurance
fund. In 2003 only 7% had obtained non-urgent treatment in another EU
country, but by 2008 the proportion had increased to 40%. 2 Second,
any solution may have implications for how domestic health systems are
run. In this paper we describe who is affected by the directive,
review the current proposals, 1 and review the process that has given
rise to the draft directive. We discuss its most contentious issues
and examine its potential implications for patients, health
professionals, and policy makers.
/healthcare/docs/COM_en.pdf