The report reviews a range of policies that countries have used to tackle waiting times for different services, including elective surgery and primary care consultations, but also cancer care and mental health services, with a focus on identifying the most successful ones.

Long waiting times for health services is an important policy issue in most OECD countries. Reducing the time that people have to wait to get a consultation with a general practitioner, or a diagnostic test or treatment, can go a long way in improving patient experience and avoiding possible deterioration in their health. Governments in many countries have taken various measures to reduce waiting times, often supported by additional funding, with mixed success. This report looks at how waiting times for elective treatment, which is usually the longest wait, have stalled over the past decade in many countries, and have started to rise again in some others. It also analyses the differences in how long people have to wait to get a consultation with general practitioners or specialists across countries. The report reviews a range of policies that countries have used to tackle waiting times for different services, including elective surgery and primary care consultations, but also cancer care and mental health services, with a focus on identifying the most successful ones.

The COVID-19 pandemic had massive consequences for societies and health systems across the OECD and beyond. Health systems were not resilient enough. Resilient health systems plan and are ready for shocks, such as pandemics, economic crises or the effects of climate change.

This book provides a framework to understand why there are waiting lists for elective surgery in some OECD countries and not in others. It also describes how waiting times are measured in OECD countries and reviews different policy approaches to tackling excessive waiting times.

Mental ill-health affects millions of people, and drives economic costs of more than 4% of GDP. A good mental health system helps people stay in good mental health, and connects those in need to appropriate support to manage their mental health condition or even fully recover from it.

With more chronic conditions and an ageing population, a growing share of the population will need end-of-life care, reaching close to 10 million people by 2050. While end-of-life care services help improve quality of life through relieving pain and other symptoms, currently, there are substantial gaps in the provision of services.

This report addresses the latest trends in cancer incidence and mortality in the EU and reviews key cancer risk factors, cancer screening programmes and early diagnoses, and issues in the provision of high-quality cancer care.

Health at a Glance provides a comprehensive set of indicators on population health and health system performance across OECD members and key emerging economies. This edition has a special focus on the health impact of COVID-19 in OECD countries, including deaths and illness caused by the virus, adverse effects on access and quality of care, and the growing burden of mental ill-health.

Health Insurance Systems: An International Comparison offers united and synthesized information currently available only in scattered locations - if at all - to students, researchers, and policymakers. The book provides helpful contexts, so people worldwide can understand various healthcare systems. By using it as a guide to the mechanics of different healthcare systems, readers can examine existing systems as frameworks for developing their own. Case examples of countries adopting insurance characteristics from other countries enhance the critical insights offered in the book. If more information about health insurance alternatives can lead to better decisions, this guide can provide an essential service. - Delivers fundamental insights into the different ways that countries organize their health insurance systems - Presents ten prominent health insurance systems in one book, facilitating comparisons and contrasts, to help draw policy lessons - Countries included are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States - Helps students, researchers, and policymakers searching for innovative designs by providing cases describing what countries have learned from each other

The 2022 edition of Health at a Glance: Europe reviews the key challenges to build more resilient and effective health systems following COVID-19. It includes a special focus on the impact of the pandemic on young people’s health, including both their mental and physical health.