Health care system and laboratory medicine in Austria: present status and future perspectives

In the recent past, the role of laboratory medicine has changed from merely supplier of analytical data to supplier of results together with clinical interpretation. In addition, the role of medical laboratories as important partners of health care management by providing data for management functions and decisions is rapidly growing. The article has the purpose of giving an overview of Austria's population, the governmental system and Austrian health politics in context with European health care. The existing health care system with its historical development, to-date status and recent changes due to socio-economic pressure are outlined. Special emphasis is given to the present situation of medical laboratories in Austria. Furthermore, hospital management strategies and some adjustment processes in the authors' clinical-medical laboratory to alleviate the ongoing economic pressure are described. As far as possible, an attempt of forecasting future scenarios is made.