The challange
It is shared and common prejudice that the costs for health care are rocketing and approaching the limits of affordability. This is not supported by evidence on expenditure over a 10 year period of economic change, intense health sector reform or consumer preferences and demand. A challenge shared by all European regional health systems in a financial climate where cost containment, restriction and rationalization of health care dominates is that health organisations need to be able to demonstrate the added value of investment and expenditure decisions.
The health sector is much more than doctors, hospitals and pharmacies. The health sector absorbs large amounts of labour, commodities and research and thus creates incomes, which in turn flow back into the economic cycle of locations, regions and the overall economy. Within EU regions, health sector spending ranges from 5.5% to 11% of regional GDP. This is a significant level of economic activity. But it is not optimised to positively contribute to regional development agendas. Nor is it used to maximise the population health benefit of health care expenditure.
Effective and sustainable regional health innovation landscapes are one way of achieving these contributions. They should: help create dynamic local businesses that are competitive in wider markets; boost local employment; widen the skills base; improve workplace & population health; and strengthen social cohesion. These are the kinds of added value that we should expect from public organisations spending public money.