International Research on Quality in Healthcare

International Research Project on Financing Quality in Healthcare InterQuality gathers the interest for financing systems' effect on quality of healthcare of researchers from seven EU countries and US. The study, based on administrative and survey data, is designed for 36 months. It will take into account needs of four different patient groups (sectors), affected by: hospital, outpatient, pharmaceutical and integrated care. The scope of research will cover: utilization of resources and efficiency, quality of care, including: equity of access, patient satisfaction and safety of treatment. Resources allocated by each sector will be analyzed in relation to risk of their overuse, underuse or misuse. Critical appraisal of individual contracts will be based on the New Institutional Economics theory.

Principal-Agent framework, the new standard approach to modelling relationships between payers and providers in healthcare, will be applied to the analysis of reimbursement schemes. The first two work-packages will prepare theoretical background and collect statistical data in required format. Dedicated Data Warehouse will be launched and exploited by all project participants.

Work-packages 3-6 will perform core analytical work by building and testing sector-specific models and delivering expected project results. The research will be conducted in Poland, Italy, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom and United States. Each of the chosen countries has different health care financing system therefore the comparison of the results and outcomes, addressing different aspects of financial incentives' effect on quality of care, will advance the knowledge base on sustainability of the health systems. Further knowledge gained from the project will provide support for Member States to choose the right financing mechanisms in the different areas of the health care system, according to their needs, in order to achieve better health with available resources.