The EU Directive on cross-border healthcare aims to increase transparency in healthcare across EU countries. It will initially involve publishing information for all hospitals and hospital services, and then expand to include outpatient services. This will form an EU-wide standard for healthcare quality, guidelines, price lists, and other consumer information. Each member state must create easy-to-use websites providing this information by the end of 2013. The goal is to drive competition for better quality and value in healthcare through transparency and increased patient involvement in healthcare choices.

1. The EU Directive of
cross-
cross-border healthcare
– surface and reality
GHCC Brussels, April 13, 2011
Johan Hjertqvist
Founder, CEO
Health Consumer Powerhouse
www.healthpowerhouse.com

2. The formal interpretation
• The Directive deals with matters of
patients going to other EU countries
for in-hospital proceedures
• Represents less than 1% of the total
healthcare costs
• Not too much to write home about –
or…?

3. The dynamic interpretation
• A breakthrough for healthcare transparency
in EU
• Will initially involve all hospitals and hospital
services, spreading to out of-hospital services
as well
• Forming a EU ”industry standard” of healthcare,
with guidelines/quality systems, quality
controls, outcomes assessment and price lists
as well as other kinds of consumer information
• Requiring every MS to design user-friendly web
portals
• Care providers will become active
communicators - dialogue for informed choice.

4. The Commission Plan
• Applying all industry measures to drive
competition for quality and prices –
best value healthcare
• Transparency will be the tool to point to
the necessity of better productivity,
efficiency and value
• Patient/consumer involvement
• A huge shake-out of low-value
healthcare around the EU – who wants
to fund bad quality?

5. 30 months
• All member states to comply by the end of
2013
• A giant challenge
• Politics, culture, capability
• A new landscape to be formed
• Fantastic opportunities
200 million hospital stays/yr
5 bn out-hospital visits/yr
14 000 hospitals
5,5 mil. medical professionals
Turnover: TUSD 1.4.

6. If you want to learn more
about these opportunities,
please get in touch!
johan.hjertqvist@healthpowerhouse.
com