National Agency for Regional Health Services (Age.Na.S.)

The National Agency for Regional Health Services (Agenas) is a public agency established in 1993 (art.5 of the legislative decree n.266 of the 30th June) as a technical-scientific body of the Ministry of Health. The main objectives of the Agency are to promote innovation and quality in healthcare, to perform comparative analysis of cost and effectiveness of services offered to the public and to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health and to the Regions. The Agency also participates in several projects co-funded by the European Union and coordinates health research programs financed by the Ministry of Health.
The main areas of activity are the following:

Monitoring health expenditure;
Managing the Outcomes Evaluation National Program (so-called PNE). This program provides at national level a comparative evaluation of effectiveness, safety, efficiency and quality of healthcare provided within the National Health Service;
Empowerment and Humanization;
Healthcare organization and planning;
Quality and Appropriateness;
Health Technology Assessment (HTA);
Continuing Medical Education and Management training;
Plans for requalification and financial recovery of Regions;
Primary care and frailty;
Patient safety and risk management;
Corporate governance;
Hospital accreditation;
Times and waiting lists;
Specialized networks;
Research and International cooperation;
Waste and Anticorruption.