Web-economic-crisis-health-systems-and-health-web

332 Economic crisis, health systems and health in Europe: country experience
Changes to health service planning, purchasing and delivery
Prices of medical goods
• VAT on pharmaceuticals reduced from 20% to 10% (2009).
Salaries and motivation of health sector workers
• Lower wage increases for health and social care professionals (2009, 2011).
Payment to providers
• No response reported.
Overhead costs: restructuring the Ministry of Health and purchasing agencies
• The Austrian Government decided not to replace retired civil servants
(2010). The Federal Ministry of Health was affected by this measure.
Provider infrastructure and capital investment
• The 2013 Health Reform aimed to implement a global budget cap through the
federal infrastructure plan (Austrian Structural Plan for Health). This plan
determines regional infrastructure targets, including the maximum number
of ambulatory care providers and advanced technology equipment. In order
to monitor compliance, federal states are required to adhere to the 2012 fiscal
stability pact between the federal and regional levels of government. In the
past, adherence to infrastructure targets such as reduction of the number of
beds has been limited.
Priority setting or protocols to change access to treatments, coordination
of care and patterns of use
• The 2013 Health Reform defined a set of goals aimed at improving health
care delivery:
• ensure right point of delivery and time of care;
• make quality measurement transparent and patient-oriented; and
• optimize organization of care and communication.
• Multiprofessional and integrated delivery models promoted.
Waiting times
• No response reported.
Health promotion and prevention
• Regional budgets for health promotion and prevention to receive additional
€150 million over 10 years (2013).
• Setting of 10 new health targets related to promoting healthier living and
health outcomes (2013).