The aim is to examine whether quality differences can form part of the explanation for productivity differences and attempts to uncover any quality-cost trade-off at the hospital level. Previous studies have indicated that Finnish hospitals have significantly higher average productivity than hospitals in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but have also revealed a substantial variation within each country.
Data on hospital costs and patients was collected in each DRG group for a total of 160 acute hospitals in 2008-2009. Patient-register-based measures of quality such as readmissions, mortality (in-hospital or out-of-hospital) and patient safety indices were developed and case-mix adjusted.
► Medin E, Häkkinen U, Linna M, Anthun KS, Kittelsen SAC, Rehnberg C, on behalf of the EuroHOPE study group. International hospital productivity comparison: experiences from the Nordic countries. Health Policy, Volume 112, Issues 1-2, September 2013, Pages 80-87.
► EuroHOPE Nordic Hospital comparison: Material, Methods and Indicators. EuroHOPE Discussion Papers No 10. 31st December 2012 [pdf 505 KB]
► Kittelsen SAC, Anthun KS, Goude F, Huitfeldt IMS, Häkkinen U, Kruse M, Medin M, Rehnberg C, Rättö H. 2015. Costs and quality at the hospital level in the Nordic countries. Health Economics 24 (Suppl. 2): 140-163.
[Dec. 4th 2015]
