Obsan analyses the available health related information in Switzerland. It provides support for the Confederation, the cantons and other health service institutions in their planning, decision making and actions.
The Swiss Health Observatory is working on six areas of competence: «Costs, financing and competition», «Demography and demand», «Health professions and the supply of health care», «Mental health, illness and handicap», «Health promotion and prevention» and «Health reports and monitoring». Obsan makes its results available to the Confederation, the cantons and other institutions in the area of the health system. It also carries out customised analyse.
Obsan tasks
- Process and evaluate the available data and information about the health status of the population and about the health system.
- Make available relevant, scientifically reliable data and information about health in a user friendly form.
- Compile, analyse and present health data and information so as to support health-policy planning and decision-making, to be able to evaluate measures, health services and health care structures and to highlight the health problems of the population at large.
- In the event of gaps and shortcomings in existing health data, suggest improvements to and innovations in data surveys and registers.
The Swiss Health Observatory does not conduct statistical surveys itself, but concentrates on using existing data.
