The main objective of this study was to assess the potential for higher efficiency through better care coordination policies, and to identify how governments in OECD countries promote coordination of care. Many OECD countries see coordination of care as a key policy response for achieving more efficient and effective health care delivery, in the context of changes in the patterns of demand and supply of health care.
Technical progress and increased specialisation in medicine are leading to greater fragmentation in supply, while rising numbers of chronically-ill patients are consuming a growing share of total health care spending and are in need of guidance when care comes from different sources during a single episode of care. The results of this study are based on replies to a detailed questionnaire from 26 countries, supplemented by a review of the literature on the impact of such programmes. The broad result is that, while coordination of care policies seems likely to improve the quality of care (and are therefore valuable in their own right), there is less evidence that they will lead to substantive cost savings.
Ref and Read more: http://www.oecd.org/document/32/0,3746,en_2649_37407_36415008_1_1_1_37407,00.html