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Glinos IA, Baeten R. Reprint of: Dream vs. reality: seven case-studies on the desirability and feasibility of cross-border hospital collaboration in Europe. Soc Sci Med. 2014;124:331-7doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.057.
Glinos, I. A., & Baeten, R. (2015). Reprint of: Dream vs. reality: seven case-studies on the desirability and feasibility of cross-border hospital collaboration in Europe. Social science & medicine (1982), 124331-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.057
Glinos, Irene A, and Baeten, Rita. "Reprint of: Dream vs. reality: seven case-studies on the desirability and feasibility of cross-border hospital collaboration in Europe." Social science & medicine (1982) vol. 124 (2015): 331-7. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.057
Glinos IA, Baeten R. Reprint of: Dream vs. reality: seven case-studies on the desirability and feasibility of cross-border hospital collaboration in Europe. Soc Sci Med. 2015 Jan;124:331-7. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.057. Epub 2014 Dec 05. PMID: 25496663.
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Soc Sci Med. 2015 Jan;124:331-7. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.057. Epub 2014 Dec 05.

Reprint of: Dream vs. reality: seven case-studies on the desirability and feasibility of cross-border hospital collaboration in Europe.

Social science & medicine (1982)

Irene A Glinos, Rita Baeten

Affiliations

  1. European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Eurostation, Place Victor Hortaplein 40/10, 1060 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: [email protected].
  2. European Social Observatory, 13 Rue Paul Emile Janson, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 25496663 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.057

Abstract

Despite being a niche phenomenon, cross-border health care collaboration receives a lot of attention in the EU and figures visibly on the policy agenda, in particular since the policy process which eventually led to the adoption of Directive 2011/24/EU. One of the underlying assumptions is that cross-border collaboration is desirable, providing justification to both the European Commission and to border-region stakeholders for promoting it. The purpose of this paper is to question this assumption and to examine the role of actors in pushing (or not) for cross-border collaboration. The analysis takes place in two parts. First, the EU policies to promote cross-border collaboration and the tools employed are examined, namely (a) use of European funds to sponsor concrete border-region collaboration projects, (b) use of European funds to sponsor research which gives visibility to cross-border collaboration, and (c) use of the European Commission's newly acquired legal mandate to encourage "Member States to cooperate in cross-border health care provision in border-regions" (Art. 10) and support "Member States in the development of European reference networks between health care providers and centres of expertise" (Art. 12). Second, evidence gathered in 2011-2013 from seven European border-regions on hospital cross-border collaboration is systematically reviewed to assess the reality of cross-border collaboration - can it work and when, and why do actors engage in cross-border collaboration? The preliminary findings suggest that while the EU plays a prominent role in some border-region initiatives, cross-border collaboration needs such a specific set of circumstances to work that it is questionable whether it can effectively be promoted. Moreover, local actors make use of the EU (as a source of funding, legislation or legitimisation) to serve their needs.

Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Cross-border collaboration; Health systems; Hospitals; The EU

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