Half-yearly surveys

In each survey covering six months, partner institutions provide information on the progress of a health policy idea, approach or instrument from the early stage of inception towards implementation over time.

For every six-month-period, our experts describe five or more key health policy developments selected according to the criteria mentioned below. We are interested in  comparing the background/context of a key health policy issue, its players/process interactions, and, - with a view to implementation - its potential impact.

Reporting criteria

Four criteria were determined to select and describe a health policy development in any half-yearly survey:

• relevance and scope: impact on the status quo of a health care system (legal, financial and organizational framework, entitlements)
• degree of innovation (idea or policy held against national and international standards),
• media coverage / public attention / visibility
• transferability of approach (to determine the extent to which a policy depends on a particular health care system)

For the final rating of a policy, we also look at the policy process: Was it consensual, or was it highly controversial? While the first survey can only throw a spotlight at these characteristics, over time we will be able to relate health policy themes with a political interactions. The aim is to facilitate in-depth analyses of the policy making process as such. Ideally, the health policy monitor will enable us to answer questions about the association or relationship between positions, priorities and influences of actors toward a policy on one side, and the outcome of a health policy idea or piece of reform on the other: Which types of negotiation and what incentives or trade-offs are relevant for success, failure or abolition of a reform?