hope
EU hospitals and
healthcare services
HOPE representatives provide information on the strategy
adopted on quality and patient safety and on expectations on improving
healthcare quality using patients’ experiences and competencies
Austria
Mr Nikolaus Koller
HOPE Governor
Mrs Ulrike Schermann-Richter
HOPE Liaison Officer, Federal Ministry of Labour,
Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection
Could you outline the strategy/approach
adopted in your country on quality and
patient safety or the two/three initiatives
in the hospital and healthcare sector in the
past ten years?
The Federal Health Commission 1 adopted the
Austrian Quality Strategy in 2010, which was
integrated by operational objectives in 2011 to be
effectively implemented. In 2012, the Patient Safety
Strategy became one of the most important issues
of the Quality Strategy.
It aims at the continuous further development,
improvement, and nationwide assurance of quality
in the healthcare sector. It supports appropriate
and, most notably, reliable healthcare services
provision to the population. Quality shall become
the guiding and controlling criterion for the
Austrian healthcare system.
The strategic objectives are:
• Continuous improvement of the process and
quality results;
• Quality assurance and quality management;
• Transparency of the healthcare system;
• Risk and safety culture;
• Incentives for continuous quality improvement;
• Quality oriented training at all levels;
• Mutual support, increased cooperation and
coordination of the implementation of the quality
objectives at the level of the Federal State, the
Länder and the social insurance.
The strategic and operational objectives as
well as the actions/measures based on them
are checked regularly and if needed adjusted
accordingly.
Additionally, the National Framework for
Healthcare Planning (ÖSG-Österreichischer
Strukturplan Gesundheit) was completely revised,
extended, and then republished in Summer 2017.
Constituent parts of the planning guidelines are
standards on infrastructural quality of healthcare
settings and establishments, such as the
composition, qualification and attendance
of treatment teams, (minimum) equipment
standards, and the particular (minimum) range
of services to be provided. These standards apply
to selected therapeutic areas of in-patient and
out-patient care. The applicable existing legal
regulations were not far-reaching and detailed
enough to ensure comprehensive infrastructural
quality and allow regular control and
comparability.
Reference
1 Back then, the Federal Health
Commission consisted of
representatives of the Federal
State, the Länder, the social
insurance, the cities and
municipalities, the confessional
hospitals, the patient advocates
and the chamber of doctors.
austria
Total health expenditure as % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Percentage of current public expenditure on health as % of total current health expenditure
Hospital current health expenditure, as % of total current health expenditure
Out-of-pocket expenditure, % of current expenditure on health
All hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants
Acute care hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants
Acute care admissions/discharges per 100 inhabitants
Average length of stay for acute care hospitals (bed-days)
Practicing physicians per 100,000 inhabitants
Practicing nurses per 100,000 inhabitants
24
HHE 2018 | hospitalhealthcare.com
2000 2008 2015
9.2%
9.6%
10.3%
75.5%
76.5%
75.6%
36.8%
38.0%
38.7%
17.8%
17.5%
17.9%
795.0
769.0
755.0
685.0
629.0
566.0
24.7
26.7
24.6
7.6
6.8
6.5
385.0
460.0
510.0
716.0
753.0
805.0