EUROHEALTH

52
Improving health information and health information systems
EVIDENCE-INFORMED POLICY-
MAKING IN SLOVENIA
By: Mircha Poldrugovac, Tit Albreht, Tanja Kuchenmüller, Marijan Ivanuša, Tatjana Buzeti and Vesna Kerstin Petrič
Summary: Health information and research are important foundations
for health systems strengthening (HSS). This includes strengthening
the information systems themselves such that they are up-to-date,
inclusive of all relevant stakeholders and tailored to local contexts.
Evidence-informed policy-making (EIP) is a major priority for Slovenia.
This article shows how Slovenia applied the principles of EIP to
two complementary initiatives contributing to the reform process:
1) a large-scale health system review and 2) an evidence brief for
policy on provider payments in primary care. As a result, both are
contributing to the transformation of the Slovenian health system.
Keywords: Health Systems Strengthening; Evidence-Informed Policy-Making;
Provider Payment; Primary Care; Slovenia
Mircha Poldrugovac is a public
health medicine specialist and
Tit Albreht is Head of the Centre
for Health Care, National Institute
of Public Health, Ljubljana,
Slovenia; Tanja Kuchenmüller is
a Technical Officer in the Evidence
and Information for Policy-making
Unit, Division of Information,
Evidence, Research and Innovation,
World Health Organization Regional
Office for Europe, Copenhagen,
Denmark; Marijan Ivanuša is Head
of the World Health Organization
country office in Slovenia; Tatjana
Buzeti is Senior advisor at the
Minister’s Cabinet, and Vesna
Kerstin Petrič is Head of the
Division for Health Promotion and
Prevention of Noncommunicable
Diseases at the Ministry of Health,
Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Email: Mircha.poldrugovac@nijz.si
Introduction
Strengthening evidence-informed policymaking
(EIP) has gained increasing
attention across the European region over
the past few years. On the eve of the 20th
anniversary of the Ljubljana Charter
on Reforming Health Care in Europe,
it is important to mention that EIP was
already recognized as a key contributor to
effective reform when Ministers of Health
signed the Charter in 1996. To manage
the reform of health care effectively,
the Charter urged that “…decisions on
[the] development of the health care
system should be based on evidence,
where available.” 1 At the same time,
the Charter stressed that “governments
must raise value-related issues for
public debate…” 1 Although seemingly
contradictory, decision makers need to
reconcile these two dimensions – the need
for evidence and the need to consider
values – in order to identify policy actions
that promote the health of the population.
No country, including Slovenia, is exempt
from the challenges that balancing these
two dimensions of high-level policymaking
present for decision makers.
In 2015, a comprehensive, large-scale,
evidence-informed health system review
was commissioned by the Ministry of
Health to support the development of
a new national health plan in Slovenia.
Simultaneously, the Ministry supported
activities to establish a Knowledge
Translation Platform (KTP) to strengthen
the role of systematic evidence in
important areas not covered by large
health system evidence – they tested this
in the area of primary care.
The Slovenian health system review
At the start of 2015, Slovenia was in
need of a new national health plan to
guide medium- and long-term policy
priorities. The previous national health
plan had expired at the end of 2013 and
new austerity measures had been put
Eurohealth — Vol.22 | No.2 | 2016