The health and social care in Finland and Nordic countries perform well in international comparisons. Owing to an ageing population and increasing health and social care needs, the soaring health expenditure is adding pressure to improve productivity.

Implementation of market mechanisms to complement public health and social care has in many cases increased the availability of services and led to cost savings. However, there are also examples of situations where markets have failed to deliver for patients and taxpayers.

This study aims to shed light on the role different market-based mechanisms have had in other selected countries; what can be usefully learned from these examples.

The study underlines the availability and use of information about service quality and outcomes, performance and costs. Information is the core building block of functioning markets and service development.

Information makes it possible for patients to make informed choices. Information on patient outcomes and service producers' performance is a prerequisite for commissioners to match customer needs to best available services. Information also provides comparative benchmarking data for service producers to compare their service to peer producers.

As we move to outcome-based health and social care approach, it is of utmost importance to focus on developing suitable indicators to support these needs.

Contact person at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment: Mikko Martikainen, mikko.martikainen(at)tem.fi, tel. +358 295 064 795