| dc.description.abstract | In 2011, the European Union (EU) adopted a new directive, “Directive 2011/24/EU/EU on
patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare”. The directive is deemed European Economic Area
– EEA relevant and acceptable by Norwegian authorities and thus will be implemented in
Norwegian law. The directive is topical, as the deadline for implementation was October
2013. EU politicians have adopted a patients`rights directive and it is deemed relevant and
acceptable for us Norwegians. What made it relevant and acceptable and in what way will it
impact the rights of Norwegian patients? In this master`s thesis we will explore the process of
implementation of the EU directive on patients`rights in cross-border healthcare in Norway.
The patients`rights directive will be applied as an illustration of the commitments Norway has
undertaken in order to create a common regulatory system for various sectors in 31 countries.
It has been our objective to examine whether Norwegian and European patients have similar
interests and preferences and if the preferences of Norwegian stakeholders were safeguarded
throughout the process. Furthermore, we have wanted to clarify whether Norwegian
patients`rights have improved through the implementation of the directive. We developed
three hypotheses which in turn led to our research question:
Why is the patients`rights directive acceptable and relevant for Norwegian stakeholders?
The appointed committee on health ascertains in their Position paper of 3rd of July 2013 that
the Directive 2011/24/EU/EU on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare is acceptable and
relevant for Norway. It is worth investigating how they could ascertain this relevance and
acceptability. Through document analysis, use of empirical evidence and theory; for instance
the EEA agreement and European integration theory, we have reached the conclusion that the
patients`rights directive is relevant. The EEA agreement institutionalizes Norway`s
agreements with the EU and ensures a stable and binding collaboration. Norway is thus
obligated to implement the patients`s rights directive. That makes it relevant.
In order to verify the assumptions developed through the document analysis, we have
undertaken a survey among selected stakeholders; the assessment of the acceptability of the
patients`rights directive. The stakeholders wish to improve patient rights. In order to make
sure that Norwegian patients benefit from the new right gained through the patients`rights
directive, the directive must be implemented in Norwegian law. An evaluation of the
stakeholder analysis and the consultative inputs demonstrate that the rights of Norwegian
patients have been improved, thus the directive is acceptable. Our assessment; based on
analysis in this thesis is that the patients`rights directive can be deemed relevant and
acceptable.
Through our thesis we claim to have revealed the necessity for Norwegian stakeholders to
strengthen their efforts in order to influence the decision making processes in the EU system. | nb_NO |
