Flexibility in focus: Transforming healthcare for uncertain times

Flexibility in focus: Transforming healthcare for uncertain times Paolo Pertile discusses how the Horizon Europe FLASH project (Flexible Approaches to Support Health Through Financing) can enhance the preparedness, effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of healthcare systems in the EU. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of healthcare systems’ ability to adapt flexibly to unexpected changes in population health needs and reallocate resources to critical areas. European countries responded quickly to this extreme event by increasing the amount of financial resources available for healthcare and reallocating financial and human resources. However, efficient and flexible financing mechanisms are required to successfully address several other challenges facing healthcare systems, such as technological and organisational change, population ageing and persistent health inequalities. This highly dynamic framework contrasts with the rigidity of most health financing systems. The FLASH project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, aims to contribute to the development of more flexible systems to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of EU health systems. Here, we review three dimensions of flexibility explored by the project.