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Healthcare Systems & Services


Health International


Issue 1

Health reform in Europe has taken many guises in recent years—virtually as many variations as there are European countries, if not more. Insurance markets have been liberalized, pharmaceutical payment policies have been altered, hospital regulations have been softened, physician freedoms have been curtailed—these and many other concepts have been introduced, with varying degrees of success.


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Why does McKinsey publish Health Europe?

Our director in McKinsey's Düsseldorf office explains why our firm believes it is important to dedicate a magazine to this critical industry.

Facts and figures: European healthcare systems

In the near future, there will be no unified European healthcare system. However, national healthcare systems across Europe face comparable challenges, among them increasing cost pressures and changes in customer demand. Because of these issues, European healthcare systems will be reorganized and modernized, and will gradually move toward a common center.

Expectations of the 2020 UK healthcare system

The British government has been openly speculating about the nature of healthcare in 2020. We look at the questions being raised, from how a patient's experience can expect to change to how the National Health Service has to adapt to the evolution of the public's orientation toward healthcare.

Growth strategies for private health insurers

Growth is currently the top issue in the private health insurance market. But how can insurers generate substantial growth if the traditional insurance market is barely expanding and if participation in the high-growth healthcare business requires entry into the healthcare-services market?

"We don't want to just pay up and stay silent ..."

Germany's largest private health insurance company is taking action. In an interview with Health Europe, board of directors chairman Dr. Jan Boetius describes how DKV plans to better monitor billing by healthcare providers, play a more active role in developing preventive health and disease-management programs, and even enter the healthcare-services market.

Health reinsurance: Going the way of the dinosaur?

Have reinsurers in the healthcare sector outlived their usefulness? Not by a long shot. Reinsurers can offer valuable assistance to private health insurance companies seeking growth abroad. In established markets, they can offer attractive products for handling major losses and processing enrollment applications.

Bodily-injury claims: Reducing costs, improving the quality of care

Most liability insurers limit their involvement in bodily-injury cases to paying bills and arranging compensation for pain and suffering. However, active management of bodily-injury claims could help not only beneficiaries, who would receive optimal care, but also insurers—with cost savings of up to 30 percent in some cases.

Hospitals: New strategies for a changing healthcare landscape

What will the healthcare-services market in Europe look like a decade from now? It's hard to tell, but we make ten predictions and offer some ideas about successful strategic positioning for the players in the evolving European market. One thing is beyond doubt: If patients are the winners, the European healthcare market of tomorrow will contain a more diverse landscape with a much larger variety of players, both public and private.

Better services for the same money

Per Båtelson, president and CEO of the healthcare company Capio AB, has a simple promise for the market: better service for the same money. In this interview with Health Europe, Båtelson explains Capio's vision, reveals why Germany is the next market to be entered, and describes how he learned to handle the sensitive politics around healthcare.

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