EU health systems classification: a new proposal from EURO-HEALTHY

Abstract

Background: In accordance the WHO framework of health system functions and by using the indicators collected within the EURO-HEALTHY project, this work aims to contribute to the discussion on the classification of EU health systems. Methods: Three methods were used in this article: factor analysis, cluster analysis and descriptive analysis; data were mainly collected from the WHO and Eurostat databases. Results: The most relevant result is the proposed classification of health systems into the following clusters: Austria- Germany, Central and Northern Countries, Southern Countries, Eastern Countries ‘A’ and Eastern Countries ‘B’. Conclusions: The proposed typology contributes to the discussion about how to classify health systems; the typology of EU health systems allows comparisons of characteristics and health system performance across clusters and policy assessment and policy recommendation within each cluster.