Transposition of the patients' rights directive 2011/24/EU

Viac o knihe

The Directive on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare was adopted by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on March 9, 2011. With an adoption deadline of October 25, 2013, it is crucial to examine how national legislators transpose its implications. This paper focuses on the transposition process, particularly domestic public consultations. It presents a two-level comparison: an intrastate study of various stakeholders involved in the transposition discourse, highlighting diverse proposals, opinions, and challenges, and an inter-country comparison showcasing European adaptational patterns. The healthcare systems of Germany, Poland, and Austria, all characterized by Statutory Health Insurance (SHI), differ in systemic specifics, voting behaviors towards the Directive, and initial transposable provisions. The study, from an actor-centered perspective, identifies critical points of the Directive related to prior authorization, reimbursement, information provision, and National Contact Points, along with transposition patterns in member states. Hypotheses regarding the fit, scope of patients' rights, and interpretational challenges were tested and partly verified. The analysis reveals significant differences among a small sample of EU states, with some similarities in stakeholder and governmental behavior. Variations are evident in stakeholder types, public consultation timing, discourse emphasis, ar