[The efficiency of the health system in Spain].
OBJECTIVE
This article is an approach to assess the effectiveness of the health system in Spain using information from health care activities, the health status of the populations and the performance of health services, taken as a whole, and the standard patterns defined by geographical distribution and time trends.


METHODS
The most recent available data and historical series of basic indicators of general and premature mortality, hospital performance and avoidable mortality are used. Data has been aggregated by autonomous region and comes from official mortality and hospital statistics.


RESULTS
All the indicators show the improvement experienced in all of the regions during the period analyzed. This evolution however, has not been homogeneous and the regions with the highest improvement are not always those which were in the worst situation at the base line. The results indicate the general idea that health services are responding well to the threats against the populations health, while this cannot be said with respect to public health policies.


CONCLUSIONS
The available data, as well as the indicators and the methods used are only useful to express a general idea about the health services effectiveness. It is necessary to evaluate to what extent non-efficacy treatments are still being used and effective treatments are being used inefficiently. To do that, different data and methodology, centred in specific cases or groups of diseases, is needed.
Servei d'Informació i Estudis, Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, España. rosa.gispert@gencat.net
Rosa
R
Gispert
María Del Mar
Mdel M
Torné
María
M
Arán Barés
D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000639:trends; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D011634:Public Health; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology