Cross-Border Mobility of Health Professionals: an Exploratory Study of Migration Flows and Retention Policies in the CEE Region
Cross-Border Mobility of Health Professionals: an Exploratory Study of Migration Flows and Retention Policies in the CEE Region

Summary/Abstract: This exploratory study aims to analyse the mobility patterns and the impacts of health professionals’ migration on health systems and the effects of health professional mobility on the performance of health systems in the Central and Eastern European countries. The most interesting point of inquiry involves identifying the mechanism through which emigration actually affects health care systems and outcomes. The main research question is focused on studying the role of health professionals’ migration on the country’s stock of health professionals and to define an appraisal method to evaluate the impact on health systems of health workforce supply. The research assumption is that health personnel migration is not a random event it is determined by certain factors present in destination and source/origin countries. Therefore, the paper will be focused on comprehensive analysis of scale and characteristics of health professional mobility in the CEE countries (Romania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary), the positive or negative impacts on the performance of health systems result from mobility flows, the effects of EU enlargement on professional mobility, the options and regulatory inventions (recruitment policies, international frameworks, workforce planning and general workforce measures) implemented by governments in order to address health professional mobility issues and the main motivations of the mobile workforce.

• Details
• Contents