There is increasing concern in Europe about rising healthcare costs associated with aging and new technologies. In response, European health authorities have implemented a range of policies designed to contain costs by improving efficiency while maintaining service quality and the equality of access. The general direction has been greater reliance on formal (organisational, managerial and financial) incentives with a reduced reliance on informal, intrinsic and ‘professional’ incentives to regulate healthcare. 

Modelling the ways organisations and individuals respond to such incentives and, in particular, how `high-powered’ incentives interact with informal incentives, presents a key challenge for those involved in the study and management of public services.  While researchers in Europe are developing approaches for measuring, assessing and documenting the results of these reforms, they have not yet been fully evaluated on a comparative basis and there is considerable scope for mutual learning and cross country collaboration.

This project will create an interdisciplinary forum to share knowledge and expertise, develop new research techniques and engage a broad range of health policy managers and social scientists, including those at an early stage in their career.  The network of European organisations will host meetings and encourage its members to submit proposals for funding for additional meetings, work exchanges and research through a competitive process. It will publish its findings in academic journals and disseminate them by way of working papers on the internet and on-line discussion forums.

The following topics have been selected for initial consideration:

1. Intrinsic motivations and high-powered incentives: is there a conflict?

2. Incentives on the boundaries between curative and long-term care

3. Provider competition and expert patients: how do they affect quality?

4. The performance of performance indicators

There are several European health networks producing relevant research (the European Health Policy Research Network, UK Clinical Research Collaboration, the WHO European Health Observatory, European Health Economics Workshop, and the Risk Adjustment Network). Several participants have close links with these networks and activities will be complementary. However, the network described here is unique in three ways. First, in addition to experienced research managers and younger academics, the network will include health service managers so that it forms a `practitioner-research community (PRC). Second, local talent will be encouraged to emerge by funding activities proposed by network members. Third, the network research will focus on the institutions and incentives that are driving health sector performance in Europe.

The network will be managed by a steering committee of experienced research managers from across Europe and supported by an independent evaluation committee.