| Author (Corporate) | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) |
|---|---|
| Publisher | OECD Publishing |
| Series Title | OECD Reviews of Health Care Quality |
| Publication Date | 2015 |
| Content Type | Report |
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This report reviews the quality of health care in Italy, seeks to highlight best practices, and provides a series of targeted assessments and recommendations for further improvements to quality of care. + Italy’s health system is fully regionalised. It is a good illustration of the tension that can arise between allowing regional health systems to develop their own quality monitoring and improvement frameworks, whilst ensuring national consistency. Italy has sought to resolve this tension by creating dedicated agencies (such as AGENAS) and forums that aim to share best practice and offer targeted support to weaker regions. + Marked differences in health system performance across regions persist, however, as measured by indicators such as 30-day mortality after a heart attack. Even more striking are the differences within regions. This underlines the need for regions to performance manage local hospitals, clinics and professionals in a consistently effective manner. + In order to strengthen primary care, and effective management of chronic diseases in particular, Italy has made considerable efforts to experiment with new models of community care services, such as community care networks and community hospitals. These are characterised by a high level of integration between levels of care and rely on multidisciplinary care teams and personalised care plans. + Italy has placed special emphasis on how training and continuing professional development of the medical workforce can drive quality improvement, and reduce regional disparities. Going forward, a particular challenge will be to better use patient feedback and other sources of routine data to encourage health professionals to reflect on and improve their practice. |
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| Source Link | http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/deliver/fulltext?itemId=/content/book/9789264225428-en&mimeType=freepreview&redirecturl=http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/social-issues-migration-health/oecd-reviews-of-health-care-quality-italy-2014_9789264225428-en&isPreview=true |
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| Countries / Regions | Italy |
