The European Commission published a report aimed at supporting Member States in addressing low-value care as part of their work on reforming health systems.
The report prepared by the European Commission’s Expert Group on Health Systems Performance Assessment (HSPA), supported by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, offers a comprehensive definition of what constitutes low-value care. It aims to address the gap in information about low-value care indicators that can be used in EU Member States and Norway, and how they can be leveraged to help reduce the use of low-value care.
It introduces a comprehensive framework categorizing nine types of low-value care, as well as a list of indicators for identifying low-value care used in multiple countries. This covers prevention, diagnostics, treatment and medication as well as other areas. Gaps nonetheless remain in areas such as mental health and end-of-life care. The report highlights that methodological obstacles, particularly concerning data access and data quality, still complicate efforts to quantify low-value care. The implementation of strategies to reduce low-value care also vary between Member States.
The report has been presented on 13 February during a live webinar (REPLAY) “Identifying, measuring and reducing low-value care in the context of health system performance assessment”.
Download the full report HERE
