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The importance of day surgery as a less costly alternative compared to conventional inpatient hospital stays is growing internationally. The rate of day surgery activities has increased across Europe. However, this trend has been heterogeneous across countries, and might still be below its potential. Since payment systems affect how providers offer care, they represent a policy instrument to further increase the rate of day surgeries. In this paper, we review international strategies to promote day surgery with a particular focus on payment models for 13 OECD countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland). We conduct a cross-country comparison based on an email survey of health policy experts and a comprehensive literature review of peer-reviewed papers and grey literature. Our research shows that all countries aim to strengthen day surgery activity to increase health system efficiency. Several countries used financial and non-financial policy measures to overcome misaligned incentive structures and promote day surgery activity. Financial incentives for day surgery can serve as a policy instrument to promote change. We recommend embedding these incentives in a comprehensive approach of restructuring health systems. In addition, we encourage countries to monitor and evaluate the effect of changes to payment systems on day surgeries to allow for more informed decision-making., Competing Interests: Declarations of Competing Interest AK, HE, and RB report grants from the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the federal state of Berlin, and the German Federal Joint Committee during the conduct of the study. RB reports grants from the World Health Organization, and grants and other funding from the Federal Ministry of Health. The submitted work is independent from these relationships. RM has nothing to declare. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the OECD or of its member countries., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)