Eurostat activities in the area of Health Accounting

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• Eurostat activities in the area ofHealth
  Accounting

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What we do

• In 2005, Eurostat will start to collect routine
  data on health expenditures.
• Eurostat will only accept health expenditure data
  compliant to the SHA framework. Countries are
  invited to provide data from 2000 onward.
• Eurostat has been supporting MS to implement SHA
  since 2000. This will continue.
• Eurostat will make all health care statistics SHA
  compliant continuously in the years to come.

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What we know so far

• The information needs at EU level are constantly
  growing, due to initiatives from the Commission
  and from the Council.
• Providing health care statistics in a consistent
  way, yielding non-contradictory data, cannot be
  easily accomplished in MS.
• MS may approve efforts for mapping national data
  into comparable international ones, using common
  strategies.

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what we learnt recently

• Eurostat sponsors a project on Developing a
  minimum data set (MDS) for SHA data.
• This project analyzes the known information
  needs, the suggested indicator sets, and the
  built-in links between different SHA variables.
• The MDS final report should state
• which variables to include at which granularity,
• which structures/concepts to use for data
  transfer,
• which tools to use for guaranteeing data
  consistency.

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and what this may lead to

• Recently, the contractor discussed with country
  representatives first ideas on a SHA-MDS.
• Participants agreed in principle that such a MDS
  was needed.
• Before further decisions can be taken, the
  project report must provide a complete analysis.
• Eurostat will then negotiate with the MS, how an
  agreed SHA-MDS can be implemented, and in which
  way IT can be integrated in a useful way.

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Summary

• SHA is a too complex subject with too many nested
  variables as that the data collection could
  forever be organized via Excel tables.
• So far, first ideas for a better strategy have
  been presented. No decisions have been taken yet.
• More work is needed before MS can evaluate.
• All activities aim at supporting MS. Implementing
  requires consent. We keep you all updated and
  will invite you to comment before EU decides.