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11/30/13

Healthcare: The Netherlands has the best healthcare in the EU: Survey

The Netherlands has retained its position at the top of the annual Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI) which compares healthcare systems in Europe.

On 48 indicators such as patient rights and information, accessibility, prevention and outcomes, the Netherlands secured its top position among 35 European countries for the fourth year in a row, scoring 870 of a maximum 1,000 points.

In the EU, the Netherlands was followed by Denmark, Belgium and Germany as the countries with the best healthcare, while Romania, Portugal and Latvia scored the lowest.

The EHCI is compiled using a combination of public statistics, patient polls and independent research conducted by Swedish NGO Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP).

Speaking at the launch of the EHCI 2013 in Brussels on Thursday (28 November), Arne Björnberg of the HCP said the EU could learn a lot from the Dutch on healthcare.

"The Netherlands has what we call 'a chaos system', meaning patients have a great degree of freedom from where to buy their health insurance to where they get their healthcare service. The difference between

The Netherlands and other countries is that the chaos is managed. Healthcare decisions are being made in a dialogue between the patients and the healthcare professionals," Björnberg said.
He added that regardless of all the talk about the financial crisis, actual treatment results in European healthcare continued to improve.

Read more: The Netherlands has the best healthcare in the EU: Survey | EurActiv

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