Overview

Various policy tools have been used across OECD countries to reduce excessive waiting times in the last decade. The most common policy is some form of maximum waiting-time guarantee. Increasingly, such guarantees are backed with targets for providers and sanctions for non-compliance. The guarantees often go hand-in-hand with choice, competition and an increase in supply. These policies have been successful in reducing waiting times. Demand-side policies attempt to define more rigorous clinical thresholds. However, they have proved difficult to implement. A promising policy is to link waiting-time guarantees to different categories of clinical need, a form of prioritisation.