Healthy Measures

Fears that the EU will give up its involvement in health won’t go away. A big concern is that the next president of the Commission “might abolish” its responsibilities, says Austria’s director-general for health

Health insurers and pharma companies are striking pay-for-results deals under which rebates are offered if a drug does not perform as well in the real world as in clinical trials

Paying hospitals for activity provides no incentive to improve. Using historical data, patients awaiting cardiac surgery can be profiled, with hospitals paid extra to bear the risk of complications, but receiving no further payment if a second operation is required

Many adults with diabetes are unaware of their increased risk for certain serious illnesses, including pneumococcal pneumonia/pneumococcal disease, flu and hepatitis B, according to a recent national online survey sponsored by Merck & Co. (known as MSD in Europe) and the American Diabetes Association.