Research Methodology
To research this report, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed the literature and data available on Europe's healthcare systems. We also conducted 28 in-depth interviews with leading experts in the different professional roles that make up the healthcare sector: academics; clinicians; healthcare providers; payers; policymakers; medical suppliers; think tanks and representatives of patients. The data and interview comments were then analysed to define trends likely to impact the direction of healthcare in the next two decades. Finally, bearing in mind these trends, we developed five scenarios, each a distillation of a school of thought on healthcare reform. The intention is to use these scenarios as a policy-neutral set of platforms upon which some degree of agreement can be reached about the future direction of healthcare. The Economist Intelligence Unit bears sole responsibility for the content of this report. The findings and views do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor. The interviews were carried out by Alexandra Wyke, Paul Kielstra and Conrad Heine. Alexandra Wyke was the author of the report, and Aviva Freudmann and Delia Meth-Cohn were the editors.
