Reinhard Busse

Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) systems were introduced in Europe to increase the transparency of services provided by hospitals and to incentivise greater efficiency in the use of resources invested in acute hospitals. In many countries, these systems were also designed to contribute to improving – or at least protecting – the quality of care. After more than a decade of experience with using DRGs in Europe, this book considers whether the extensive use of DRGs has contributed towards achieving these objectives. Written by authors with extensive experience of these systems, this book is a product of the EuroDRG project and constitutes an important resource for health policy-makers and researchers from Europe and beyond. The book is intended to contribute to the emergence of a ‘common language’ that will facilitate communication between researchers and policy-makers interested in improving the functioning and resourcing of the acute hospital sector. The book includes:A clearly structured introduction to the main ‘building blocks’ of DRG systemsAn overview of key issues related to DRGs including their impact on efficiency, quality, unintended effects and technological innovation in health care12 country chapters - Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and SwedenClearly structured and detailed information about the most important DRG system characteristics in each of these countries Useful insights for countries and regions in Europe and beyond interested in introducing, extending and/ or optimising DRG systems within the hospital sector

Health targets can help to improve the governance of health systems. They express a commitment to achieve specified outputs over a defined period, and allow progress towards broad goals and objectives to be monitored. They may be quantitative or qualitative, and based on outcomes or processes. This book draws on a series of case studies on the use of health targets, written by experts from Catalonia (Spain), England (United Kingdom), Flanders (Belgium), France, Germany, Hungary and the Russian Federation. It reviews the major technical, managerial and political challenges of defining and implementing health targets. While they help focus attention on agreed goals, to realize their potential they need to be based on evidence, accepted by those who work to achieve them, be embedded in frameworks of mutual accountability, linked to appropriate incentives and/or sanctions and supported by an adequate intelligence infrastructure. The experiences of these countries and regions can serve as examples to all those in government who strive to improve the performance of their health systems.

Ausschlussfristen sind heute ein fester Bestandteil der vertraglichen Gestaltung eines Arbeitsverhaltnisses. Unter Hinweis auf die Zweckbestimmungen der Rechtssicherheit und des Rechtsfriedens werden die Gefahren der Verfallklausel immer wieder vernachlassigt. Die vorliegende Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, die Merkmale einer angemessenen und interessengerechten Form der Verfallklausel aufzuzeigen. Auf der Grundlage einer umfassenden Analyse der Gestaltungsfaktoren werden Losungsvorschlage fur die praktisch relevanten Probleme im Umgang mit der Verfallklausel erarbeitet."