Nordic Health Care Systems: Recent Reforms and Current Policy Challenges

"This book is a rich, interesting and very useful document. I have been looking, for example, today for precise information on political governing which is not displayed anywhere else. It will be of importance in many aspects!"
Johan Calltorp MD PhD, Professor of Health Policy and Management, The Nordic School of Public Health, Gotenburg

"The publishing of this book about the Nordic health care systems is a major event for those interested not only in Nordic health policy and health systems but also for everybody interested in comparative health policy and health systems. It is the first book in its kind. It covers the four 'large' Nordic countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, and does so in a very systematically comparative way. The book is well organized, covers 'everything' and is analytically sophisticated."
Ole Berg, nstitute of Health Management and health economics, University of Oslo, Norway

This book examines recent patterns of health reform in Nordic health care systems, and the balance between stability and change in how these systems have developed. The health systems in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland are investigated through detailed comparisons along a variety of policy-driven parameters.

The following themes are explored:

• Politicians, patients, and professions
• Financing, production, and distribution
• The role of the primary health sector
• The role of public health
• Internal management mechanisms
• Impact of the European Union

The editors also explore the extent to which a Nordic Health Care Model exists, and the degree to which that model will continue to help explain the future direction of health policy-making in these four countries. An additional chapter on recent developments in Iceland completes the work.

Contributors: Tinna L. Asgeirsdottir, Paula Blomquist, Johan Calltorp, Terje P. Hagen, Unto Hakkinen, Peter K. Jespersen, Pia M. Jonsson, Lars Erik Kjekshus, Allan Krasnik, Meri Larivaara, Juhani Lehto, Kalevi Luoma, Jon Magnussen, Dorte S. Martinsen, Pal E. Martinussen, Bard Paulsen, Clas Rehnberg, Anen Ringard, Richard B. Saltman, Signild Vallgarda, Karsten Vrangbak, Ulrika Winblad, Sirpa Wrede.

Karsten Vrangbak is Director of Research, Danish Institute of Governmental Research, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Richard B. Saltman is Associate Head of Research Policy at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and Professor of Health Policy and Management in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.