The healthcare system of a country includes providers, patients, payers, research trials, programs, organizations, institutions, related businesses, laws, regulations, and policies. Its function is to ensure access to essential health services and to promote high-quality, cost-effective care.
There are many different approaches to delivering health care, and no two systems are exactly alike. But learning from what works elsewhere in the world can help countries to create systems that achieve the goals of optimal health for all people at a price they can afford.
Health systems vary from a mostly private, “socialized” model in which all are insured to a government-run system in which most of the healthcare providers are employed by the state or other entities. In the latter system, most medical professionals are reimbursed by the government.
Ideally, the primary source of care is a physician or clinic with a long track record and a history of helping people. Having a doctor who is familiar with your past medical history and knows how to best treat you prevents problems and saves you money by avoiding unnecessary hospitalization and emergency room visits.
A primary care practice is an important part of any comprehensive health care system because it provides a wide array of routine, chronic and acute health services at reasonable costs. It is also the most effective place to receive preventive care, such as screenings and vaccinations.
The performance of health care systems is a complex and interwoven set of issues that can be divided into two broad categories: resource allocation and access to care. Similar to the way economics can be broken down into macroeconomics (where decisions are made about a large-scale allocation of resources) and microeconomics (where healthcare professionals allocate time to specific patients), healthcare resource issues can range from a shortage of organs to a lack of trained primary care physicians. Often, barriers to health care can be due to social or financial inequities that make it difficult for people to obtain the care they need at reasonable prices.