Slovenia Region
Medium HALE and Life Expectancy
High Gap between HALE and Life Expectancy
Final Longevity Progressiveness Ranking: #32
Final Longevity Progressiveness Score: 0.620
Practical Recommendation Summary: Medical workers must continue to be supported in delivering the best evidence-informed high-quality care through firm commitments to training, professional development and access to resources.
Practical Recommendations (Full):
● Engage healthy lifestyle. There is rising concern on prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents and adults. One of the top priorities for government on the way to Healthy Longevity is to encourage a more active lifestyles through health promotion media campaigns and make physical activity an easier choice in the workplace; tighten regulations of food advertising to better protect children. The Slovenian government should aim of improving nutrition and physical activity for the whole population and from early life.
● Solve the issues of inequalities across socioeconomic groups and regions. Key problem of the healthcare system in Slovenia remains the dispersion of the organization and the provision of health services, which is an even greater challenge in terms of demographic changes and the health status of the population. The government should develop strategic plan to tackle health inequalities in terms of health outcomes, accessibility, affordability and distribution of healthcare resources.
● Health records and linkage to survey data should be used more extensively to refine disease prevalence estimates, and provide more reliable data to guide policy and programmes to address these causes of ill health.
● Enhance long-term care. Healthcare authorities should to strengthen primary care and provide greater access to comprehensive and quality treatment through better care integration and a more adequate professional skill-mix across care levels. These reforms should also help Slovenia to respond to the changing needs of an ageing population.
● Enhance physical and information infrastructure. The government should increase financing health infrastructure for hospitals and other facilities to deliver healthcare programs on a national level to all citizens in Slovenia. Such step may help to minimize number of unmet needs and increase accessibility of healthcare services for population.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
● Slovenia’s average life expectancy is above that of the EU and experienced one of its largest gains over the last two decades.
● Access to health services is good, with very low numbers reporting unmet needs for medical care and almost no variation between income groups.
● The Slovenian health system provides near universal coverage but there are extensive co-payments. To cover these, 87% of the population have voluntary health insurance and there is help for those who cannot afford it.
Weaknesses:
● Waiting lists for specialised care remain a challenge.
● There continues to be a considerable gender gap with life expectancy at birth for women exceeding that of men by more than six years and inequalities across socioeconomic groups and between western and eastern Slovenia.
● The obesity rate among adults in Slovenia is higher than in most other EU countries despite reporting above average levels of physical activity.
● Slovenia has one of the lowest physician densities in the EU.
● There is a lack of coordination and integration across levels and sectors, causing discontinuity of care.
Opportunities:
● The digital transformation of the health and social care system. It is part of the ongoing commitment to introducing new technologies into the national healthcare system in order to reduce the burden on clinicians and to enable staff to provide enhanced levels of care.
● Shift from treatment to prevention will have a major impact on reducing both average length of stay in hospital and the number of hospital beds for acute care.
● Reforming healthcare system with focus on care delivery and extended access for effective prevention and advanced treatment.
Threats:
● The economic crisis revealed issues with the fiscal sustainability of the health system.
● There is a longstanding need to redesign the composition of health financing to ensure fiscal sustainability.
● Ageing of the population is a rising issue for healthcare and pension systems stability.
● Growing burden of non-communicable and chronic diseases as a result of rising concern on behavioral risk factors.
● Access to healthcare in Slovenia depends on an individual’s status in the country.
SWOT Conclusions
Strengths Analysis:
● In recent years several incentives were introduced to strengthen the provision of preventive services.
● The insured population enjoys a broad range of benefits. Compulsory health insurance does not define a comprehensive list of all benefits, nor does it explicitly exclude services from public coverage.
● Out-of-pocket spending is below the EU average. It has remained stable throughout the last decade and during the economic crisis.
● Slovenian healthcare has not been based on hospital treatment in the past, but has ever since established a good network at the primary level.
Weaknesses Analysis:
● Slovenia experienced moderate shortages within the health professional workforce, in particular regarding physicians and registered nurses but also, to a lesser degree, dentists and pharmacists.
● Lack of reliable data on health status and medical treatment.
● Less developed long-term care, which aim to develop an affordable, effective and sustainable response to the needs of a rapidly ageing population.
● Large majority of households using out-of-pocket payments are still not at risk of impoverishment
● Lack of healthcare system efficiency and sustainability of health system funding.
● Fragmentation of equal access as well as balanced coverage and provision of services across the country.
● Key problem of the healthcare system in Slovenia remains the dispersion of the organization and the provision of health services, which is an even greater challenge in terms of demographic changes and the health status of the population.
● In 2014, Slovenia ranked fourth in terms of mortality from suicide in the EU, with particularly high levels among men and large regional disparities between western and eastern Slovenia.
High Gap between HALE and Life Expectancy
Final Longevity Progressiveness Ranking: #32
Final Longevity Progressiveness Score: 0.620
Practical Recommendation Summary: Medical workers must continue to be supported in delivering the best evidence-informed high-quality care through firm commitments to training, professional development and access to resources.
Practical Recommendations (Full):
● Engage healthy lifestyle. There is rising concern on prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents and adults. One of the top priorities for government on the way to Healthy Longevity is to encourage a more active lifestyles through health promotion media campaigns and make physical activity an easier choice in the workplace; tighten regulations of food advertising to better protect children. The Slovenian government should aim of improving nutrition and physical activity for the whole population and from early life.
● Solve the issues of inequalities across socioeconomic groups and regions. Key problem of the healthcare system in Slovenia remains the dispersion of the organization and the provision of health services, which is an even greater challenge in terms of demographic changes and the health status of the population. The government should develop strategic plan to tackle health inequalities in terms of health outcomes, accessibility, affordability and distribution of healthcare resources.
● Health records and linkage to survey data should be used more extensively to refine disease prevalence estimates, and provide more reliable data to guide policy and programmes to address these causes of ill health.
● Enhance long-term care. Healthcare authorities should to strengthen primary care and provide greater access to comprehensive and quality treatment through better care integration and a more adequate professional skill-mix across care levels. These reforms should also help Slovenia to respond to the changing needs of an ageing population.
● Enhance physical and information infrastructure. The government should increase financing health infrastructure for hospitals and other facilities to deliver healthcare programs on a national level to all citizens in Slovenia. Such step may help to minimize number of unmet needs and increase accessibility of healthcare services for population.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
● Slovenia’s average life expectancy is above that of the EU and experienced one of its largest gains over the last two decades.
● Access to health services is good, with very low numbers reporting unmet needs for medical care and almost no variation between income groups.
● The Slovenian health system provides near universal coverage but there are extensive co-payments. To cover these, 87% of the population have voluntary health insurance and there is help for those who cannot afford it.
Weaknesses:
● Waiting lists for specialised care remain a challenge.
● There continues to be a considerable gender gap with life expectancy at birth for women exceeding that of men by more than six years and inequalities across socioeconomic groups and between western and eastern Slovenia.
● The obesity rate among adults in Slovenia is higher than in most other EU countries despite reporting above average levels of physical activity.
● Slovenia has one of the lowest physician densities in the EU.
● There is a lack of coordination and integration across levels and sectors, causing discontinuity of care.
Opportunities:
● The digital transformation of the health and social care system. It is part of the ongoing commitment to introducing new technologies into the national healthcare system in order to reduce the burden on clinicians and to enable staff to provide enhanced levels of care.
● Shift from treatment to prevention will have a major impact on reducing both average length of stay in hospital and the number of hospital beds for acute care.
● Reforming healthcare system with focus on care delivery and extended access for effective prevention and advanced treatment.
Threats:
● The economic crisis revealed issues with the fiscal sustainability of the health system.
● There is a longstanding need to redesign the composition of health financing to ensure fiscal sustainability.
● Ageing of the population is a rising issue for healthcare and pension systems stability.
● Growing burden of non-communicable and chronic diseases as a result of rising concern on behavioral risk factors.
● Access to healthcare in Slovenia depends on an individual’s status in the country.
SWOT Conclusions
Strengths Analysis:
● In recent years several incentives were introduced to strengthen the provision of preventive services.
● The insured population enjoys a broad range of benefits. Compulsory health insurance does not define a comprehensive list of all benefits, nor does it explicitly exclude services from public coverage.
● Out-of-pocket spending is below the EU average. It has remained stable throughout the last decade and during the economic crisis.
● Slovenian healthcare has not been based on hospital treatment in the past, but has ever since established a good network at the primary level.
Weaknesses Analysis:
● Slovenia experienced moderate shortages within the health professional workforce, in particular regarding physicians and registered nurses but also, to a lesser degree, dentists and pharmacists.
● Lack of reliable data on health status and medical treatment.
● Less developed long-term care, which aim to develop an affordable, effective and sustainable response to the needs of a rapidly ageing population.
● Large majority of households using out-of-pocket payments are still not at risk of impoverishment
● Lack of healthcare system efficiency and sustainability of health system funding.
● Fragmentation of equal access as well as balanced coverage and provision of services across the country.
● Key problem of the healthcare system in Slovenia remains the dispersion of the organization and the provision of health services, which is an even greater challenge in terms of demographic changes and the health status of the population.
● In 2014, Slovenia ranked fourth in terms of mortality from suicide in the EU, with particularly high levels among men and large regional disparities between western and eastern Slovenia.