by Cristina Hernández-Quevedo, Jon Cylus and Anna Sagan, on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Two new web platforms have been recently launched by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies to promote international comparison and support evidence-informed policy making in health. Through the new platforms, policy makers and other interested stakeholders will be able to monitor how health systems develop in a range of different countries, and to access the growing body of evidence around health and the financial crisis.
The Health Systems and Policy Monitor (HSPM) is an innovative web platform that allows policy decision makers, practitioners and academics to follow and understand changes in national health systems across Europe and beyond. The HSPM platform makes the European Observatory’s Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series accessible online and allows easy navigation through and between HiTs; provides up-to-date information about ongoing health system reforms and changes so that users can identify and understand shifts in policy; and allows users to compare health systems information across countries.
The HSPM is available here: http://www.hspm.org/mainpage.aspx
The Health and Financial Crisis Monitor (HFCM) collates scientific evidence about the effects of the financial crisis on health and health systems across Europe, particularly in those countries most affected by the financial crisis. The platform is intended to support and inform policy makers and those who advise them by identifying and organising publications, data and analysis on this subject. This web monitor was developed jointly by the European Observatory and by the Andalusian School of Public Health. It also links with the European Observatory’s Twitter account (@OBShealth) to provide information on grey literature (press articles, opinion pieces) as well as on relevant events and activities.
The HFCM is available here: http://www.easp.es/hfcm/
These initiatives reflect, and connect to, the growing trend for online evidence support and electronic information tools. They are both based on the Observatory’s extensive network of partners and experts, and combine various dissemination channels to feed live into health reform and policy debates.
Both Monitors were presented at the European Public Health conference, that took place in Brussels on 13-16 November 2013, and at the Conference on Sustainable Health Systems for Inclusive Growth in Europe, held in Vilnius on 19-20 November 2013, as part of the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council.
About the authors
Cristina Hernández Quevedo, Jon Cylus and Anna Sagan are Research Fellows at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, LSE Health. Contact emails: C.Hernandez-Quevedo@lse.ac.uk; J.D.Cylus@lse.ac.uk; A.Sagan@lse.ac.uk
