Go to contents
Go to main menu
Go to engine search
top-cross links

"Health and Solidarities" statistical office

The "ministerial statistical office for Health and Solidarities" is the Directorate for Research, Studies, Assessment, and Statistics (Direction de la Recherche, des Études, de l'Évaluation et des Statistiques: DREES) of the Ministry for Labour, Solidarity and UCivil Service, the Ministry of Budget, Public Accounts and State Reform and the Ministry for Health and Sport. DREES covers the following areas: health, welfare, social protection, the family, and women's rights.

Contents

Main missions

Within its sphere of competence, DREES designs the statistical apparatus, ensures its consistency, and collects, processes, and disseminates statistics. In liaison with the Research Ministry, it steers research policy.

It takes part in statistical projects and the presentation of their results. DREES prepares summary studies (in particular, economic accounts) and conducts socio-demographic, economic, and financial studies and projections; it coordinates and oversees studies carried out under the Ministry's aegis. DREES helps to promote assessment work and analyzes the structural effects of social policies.

It takes part in the design, validation, and implementation of assessment methods. It disseminates and publishes material that it has prepared or coordinated.

Statistical production

DREES collects information from surveys on all healthcare and welfare facilities, including public hospitals, private hospitals, homes for the elderly, institutions for handicapped children and adults and persons in difficulty, and "mother and infant welfare centers" (Centres de Protection Maternelle and Infantile: CPMIs). It compiles an index of hospitalization costs and set up reporting channels for sampled hospitals to report financial information such as overall allocations, budget, and administration accounts.

DREES conducts surveys of specific population categories such as users of healthcare and social services, and social-benefit recipients.

DREES prepares the accounts of the health and social-protection sectors in collaboration with INSEE, the Directorate-General for Public Accounting, and the Directorate-General of the Treasury and Economic Policy at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. DREES also acts as the secretariat for the two commissions in charge of the health and social-protection sectors of the national accounts.

Back to top of page

Studies and forecasting

DREES publishes an annual appendix to the draft budget for the social-security (i.e., social insurance) system. The report highlights the key developments and trends that characterize the changes in France's health status and social conditions.

DREES routinely prepares demographic projections of the healthcare professions. It develops microsimulation models to assess the impact of tax and social-policy measures on the income of population categories.

DRESS carries out studies on the economic aspects of healthcare and social protection (e.g., drugs), qualitative assessments of reforms implemented (health insurance; public health policy; solidarity programs to promote autonomy for the elderly and the disabled; pensions; law to combat exclusion, etc.), and international comparisons (poverty and social inequality in Europe, definition and coverage of disabilities and dependency, etc.).

These studies draw on sources provided by INSEE and DREES, but also by other partners producing administrative, epidemiological, and statistical data: national social-security funds, Institute for Research and Documentation in Health Economics (Institut de Recherche and Documentation en Économie de la Santé: IRDES), National Institute of Demographic Studies (Institut National d'Études Démographiques: INED), National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale: INSERM), Health Watch Institute (Institut de la Veille Saitaire: InVS), Pharmaceuticals Agency (Agence du Médicament), and Regional Health Observatories (Observatoires Régionaux de la Santé: ORS). DREES seeks to develop opportunities for sharing data among these partners.

The Research and Experimentation Mission (Mission de Recherche et de l'Expérimentation: MiRe) promotes dialogue between government units in charge of social issues and the research community. It encourages teams from universities, the laboratories of the National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: CNRS) and, more generally, research institutions, to engage in studies that will meet the emerging need for knowledge in the fields of social protection, health, welfare, and social integration.

Back to top of page

Dissemination

DREES disseminates its own data and studies.

Back to top of page

Status in institution

DREES operates under the joint authority of three ministers (Health and Sport; Labour, Solidarity and Civil service; Budget, Public Accounts and State Reform). Its units include:

  • the Research and Experimentation Mission (Mission de Recherche et de l'Expérimentation: MiRe) ;
  • a Methods and Information Systems Department ;
  • a Sub-Directorate for Health and Sickness-Insurance Observation, which tracks healthcare institutions, health professions, the population's health status, and healthcare and sickness-insurance spending ;
  • a Sub-Directorate for Solidarity Observation, which tracks welfare institutions, local welfare programs, and social-work occupations. It is in charge of analyzing (1) the fight against exclusion and (2) policies concerning old age, disabilities, and dependencies; this Sub-Directorate comprises an office of demographic and family affairs ;
  • a Sub-Directorate for Summary Studies, Economic Studies, and Assessment, which produces economic accounts, syntheses, analyses, general forecasts, and structural studies.

Back to top of page