Healthcare financialisation and the digital divide in the European Union: Narrative and numbers

Financialization in health care considers the exchange of goods and services as financial instruments. This paper uses multivariate statistical methods to provide comparative cross-country health analysis in two dimensions: ICT infrastructure (availability and access) and Health data (usage and sharing). Based on the quantitative indicators/metrics used in our study, our results reveal three distinct country grouping emerge: Frontrunners, Followers and Laggards. These groupings highlight vastly different socio-political and economic conditions facing national health systems, where health inequalities will only partially be alleviated by building capacity in ICT infrastructure and eHealth. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.