European Medical Fieldwork, European Focus Groups & Medical Moderators

European Outreach

GKA specialises in co-ordinating fieldwork across Europe with a focus on the core EU markets:

UK
Spain
Italy
France
Germany

(Other markets available on request)

GKA conducts many studies in Europe each year and we have moderators, recruiters and partners who can cover a range of methodologies and topic areas in these regions.

UK

Population: 62,218,761
Physicians per 10,000 people (2000-2009): 21
WHO Ranking: 18

The UK National Health Service (NHS) was founded in 1948 and was designed to provide free healthcare to all UK citizens funded entirely by taxation. Today it is the world’s largest publicly funded health system and has a budget of around £106 billion. Coverage is available to 100% of the population and uptake of private insurance is low at 11.5% of the population. The Department of Health is responsible for key policy decisions and budget setting and the purchasing of services is delegated to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland independently. Each country’s services are regionally managed and in England there are 10 Strategic Health Authorities responsible for health service delivery.

Sources of information:

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/nhshistory/Pages/NHShistory1948.aspx http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/International-Health-Systems/UK.aspx http://www.ephmra.org/publications.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/overview.aspx

FRANCE

Population: 64,877,000 (2010)
Physicians per 10,000 people (2000-2009): 37
WHO Ranking: 1

The healthcare system in France was ranked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the best in the world and is an important region for healthcare market research. The majority of residents are covered by public insurance know as the Secuirite Sociale which is government funded. The Securite Sociale covers most services including hospital, outpatient, prescription drugs and nursing home care. However, not all illnesses are covered and an estimated 90% of residents maintain private insurance that covers co payment requirements. Residents can choose their physician or specialist and pay costs upfront which is then reimbursed by the government. There are 30 core conditions that are covered by public insurances in full. The hospital system in France is split between private and public hospitals with 65% of the beds in a public setting and the remainder in privately run hospitals.

Sources of information:

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/POP.pdf http://www.commonwealthfund.org/ http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/International-Profiles-of-Health-Care-Systems.aspx http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/whr00_en.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447687/ http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/International-Health-Systems/France.aspx http://www.irdes.fr/EspaceAnglais/DocumentationCentre/Documents/FrenchHealthCareSystem.pdf http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/International-Health-Systems/France.aspx http://www.ephmra.org/publications.aspx http://apps.who.int/ghodata/?vid=18500&
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9994.php

GERMANY

Population (2009): 82,329,758
Physicians per 10,000 people (2008-2009): 35
50% private vs 50% public hospitals
WHO Ranking: 25

Germany runs a universal healthcare system that is funded by a combination of employer and employee contributions. The combined finances are used as a central sickness fund which is then distributed to subsidise a proportion of residents medical needs. All individuals must have insurance to cover co-payments and some wealthy or self employed residents will not qualify for government support and healthcare will be funded privately. 89% of Germany’s population, which is one of the largest in Europe, are covered by the statutory health insurance. An estimated 9% are covered solely by private insurance. Around 2% of the population receive free government healthcare and these mainly include state employees and lower income families.

Sources of information:

http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/International-Health-Systems/France.aspx http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/International-Profiles-of-Health-Care-Systems.aspx http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/POP.pdf http://www.ephmra.org/publications.aspx

SPAIN

Population (2009): 40,525,002
Physicians per 10,000 people: 38
WHO Ranking: 7

A study conducted in 2000 by the World Health Organisation, placed Spain’s health system as the 7^th best in the world. In 1986 Spain passed the General Healthcare Law which gave all residents the right to health services. This law created the fundamentals of the National Health System (NHS) in Spain which provides healthcare to its residents and foreign visitors. The system is funded by taxation and has a regional control structure. Public healthcare covers 99.5% of Spanish citizens, but the decentralized system can lead to length waiting times in some regions (http://www.kaiseredu.org). This leads to around 15% of Spaniards maintaining private health insurance and a further 10% purchasing supplemental coverage from private providers to enable faster medical treatment (EphMRA Foundation – Doctor Statistics).

Sources of information:

ITALY

Population:60,483,521 (2010)
Physicians per 10,000 people: 37
WHO Ranking: 2

Italy’s healthcare system has been ranked as one of the best in the world. Italy runs a tax funded system offering universal healthcare via the National Health Service (NHS). The service is funded centrally but distribution and healthcare service delivery is controlled through regional decision makers covering 20 key regions. Approximately one third of Italians maintain private health insurance (EphMRA – doctor statistics).

Sources of information:

http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/International-Health-Systems/France.aspx http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/International-Profiles-of-Health-Care-Systems.aspx http://www.ephmra.org/publications.aspx http://chartsbin.com/view/gcu http://www.worldbank.org/

If you would like to know more about health systems in Europe or you have a specific study you need to conduct in any European market, please contact our client services team and they will be happy to help.

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