Architecture of the health system as an enabler of better wellbeing.

INTRODUCTION: Health systems worldwide have heterogenous capacities and financing characteristics. No clear empirical evidence is available on the possible outcomes of these characteristics for population wellbeing. AIM: The study aims to provide empirical insight into health policy alternatives to support the development of health system architecture to improve population wellbeing. METHOD AND RESULTS: We developed an unsupervised neural network model to cluster countries and used the Human Development Index to derive a wellbeing model. The results show that no single health system architecture is associated with a higher level of population wellbeing. Strikingly, high levels of health expenditure and physical health capacity do not guarantee a high level of population wellbeing and different health systems correspond to a certain wellbeing level. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis shows that alternative options exist for some health system characteristics. These can be considered by governments developing health policy priorities.

Reshaping the Healthcare Sector with Economic Policy Measures Based on COVID-19 Epidemic Severity: A Global Study.

Governments around the world are looking for ways to manage economic consequences of COVID-19 and promote economic development. The aim of this study is to identify the areas where the application of economic policy measures would enhance the resilience of societies on epidemic risks. We use data on the COVID-19 pandemic outcome in a large number of countries. With the estimation of multiple econometric models, we identify areas being a reasonable choice for economic policy intervention. It was found that viable remediation actions worth taking can be identified either for long-, mid-, or short-term horizons, impacting the equality, healthcare sector, and national economy characteristics. We suggest encouraging research and development based on innovative technologies linked to industries in healthcare, pharmaceutical, and biotech, promoting transformation of healthcare systems based on new technologies, providing access to quality healthcare, promoting public healthcare providers, and investing in the development of regional healthcare infrastructure, as a tool of equal regional development based on economic assessment. Further, a central element of this study, i.e. the innovative identification matrix, could be populated as a unique policy framework, either for latest pandemic or any similar outbreaks in future.

Toward an economy of wellbeing: The economic impact of the Welsh healthcare sector.

Population health and wellbeing is both a result, as well as a driver, of economic development and prosperity on global, European, national and sub-national (local) levels. Wales, one of the four United Kingdom (UK) nations, has shown a long-term commitment to sustainable development and achieving prosperity for all, providing a good example of both national and sub-national level, which can be useful for other European countries and regions. In this paper, the economic importance of the healthcare sector to the Welsh economy is explored. We use a large number of data sources for the UK and Welsh economy to derive an economic model for 2017. We estimate output, income, employment, value-added, and import multipliers of the healthcare sector. Results suggest that the healthcare sector has an above average contribution in four explored economic aspects of the Welsh economy (output, income, employment, value-added), according to its impact on the surrounding economic ecosystem. Also, it is below average regarding leaking through imports. The multipliers' values offer empirical evidence when deciding on alternative policy actions. Such actions can be used as a stimulus for encouraging regional development and post-COVID economic recovery. Our study refers to the Welsh healthcare sector's economic impact as a whole. Therefore, we suggest investigating the economic impact of individual healthcare providers in the future.

The impact of the health-care sector on national economies in selected European countries.

Policy-makers face pressures to improve lives and safeguard public finances sustainably. In this analysis, we estimate the economic importance of the health-care sector in 19 European national economies. We use input-output tables for the year 2010 and sectoral data to estimate a set of multipliers: simple, total, truncated, type I and type II multipliers for output, income, value-added, employment and import multiplier. The analysis reveals similarities in the economic importance of the health-care sector for the national economies of the observed countries. Results suggest prevailing positive effects on national economies (value-added, employment and household income) when spending on health-care sector products and services increases, especially in comparison to the effects of increases in spending in other sectors. The importance of the health-care sector is connected to countries' levels of development; the benefits are especially promising in countries with lower levels of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, where changes in the health-care sector have a larger impact on employment in the national economy than similar changes in more developed countries. The health-care sector therefore can play an important role as an instrument of economic policy.