Prevention in Poland: health care system reform.

Despite the political and economic reforms that have swept Eastern Europe in the past 5 years, there has been little change in Poland''s health care system. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has targeted preventive care as a priority, yet the enactment of legislation to meet this goal has been slow. The process of reform has been hindered by political stagnation, economic crisis, and a lack of delineation of responsibility for implementing the reforms. Despite the delays in reform, recent developments indicate that a realistic, sustainable restructuring of the health care system is possible, with a focus on preventive services. Recent proposals for change have centered on applying national goals to limited geographic areas, with both local and international support. Regional pilot projects to restructure health care delivery at a community level, local health education and disease prevention initiatives, and a national training program for primary care and family physicians and nurses are being planned. Through regionalization, an increase in responsibility for both the physician and the patient, and redefinition of primary health care and the role of family physicians, isolated local movements and pilot projects have shown promise in achieving these goals, even under the current budgetary constraints.     

Health promotion and health care system reform in Poland

The development of health promotion is determined by the defined changes of health situation of population, which occur in time. Contemporary methods of health promotion were initiated in 1970's, when the problem of increase of civilization (behavioural) diseases strongly related to lifestyles, was noticed. Health promotion programmes in Poland in spite of many achievements in the conceptualization phase, encounter difficulties in implementation, because of lack of appropriate structural solutions and financial support for this important public health area.     

Reimbursing insurance carriers: The case of ‘muface’ in the spanish health care system

This article aims at contributing to the analysis of financial incentives in managed competition, on the basis of the literature on procurement and regulation under incomplete information. More specifically, we focus on MUFACE, the publicly funded health care system for Spanish civil servants and dependants. MUFACE makes up an internal market, where competing public and private insurers are reimbursed a flat capitation payment. Some of our results are that theoretically, both pre-contractual (adverse) selection of insurers contracted by MUFACE, and post-contractual risk selection of enrollees undertaken by insurers, should occur under flat capitation.     

医保对象对职工医疗保险制度反应性的分析

该文对享受上海市城镇职工基本医疗保险的市民进行随机抽样调查,就其对医保政策的评价和就医行为反应性改变,分析医保改革的有效性和震荡度.提出加强医保法制建设,强化费用分担意识,完善医保政策,进一步体现福利性、公益性、公平性.     

Japan’s egalitarian health care system: A brief historical analysis

Japan is one of several East Asian countries that share an ethical system of mutual support. A review of Japan's health care system reveals a strong egalitarian ethos often considered unique by outside observers.     

Innovations in health care: antisepsis as a case study.

An innovation often occurs in several arenas almost simultaneously, after being preceded by a long preparatory period when information and experience are accrued to the point at which opinion is influenced to change. Nevertheless, the introduction of an innovation is usually accompanied by resistance and hostility. This article traces the development of the concept and practice of antisepsis in health care, with emphasis on the contributions of three individuals who were contemporaries practicing in different health care fields, but who apparently were uninfluenced by each others' work. Semmelweis, a Hungarian obstetrician, recognized the importance of person-to-person transmission of infectious agents and effected dramatic reductions in puerperal mortality by requiring antiseptic handwashing. Lister, a Scottish surgeon, was the first physician to apply the germ theory to clinical practice and developed the techniques of antiseptic surgery and wound care, resulting in dramatic reductions in surgical mortality. Nightingale, a British nurse, initiated sanitary reforms in hospitals, schools, and military camps in England and abroad, incorporating high levels of environmental and personal hygiene. These reforms were also succeeded by dramatic reductions in mortality. In light of historical and current evidence of efficacy and the evidence of continued inadequacies in practice, it seems reasonable to speculate that further reductions in nosocomial infection rates are possible by a more careful application among individual practitioners of the basic principles of antisepsis.     

A regionalized perinatal continuing education programme: successful adaptation to a foreign health care system and language

Much of the decline in perinatal mortality over the past two decades in the United States has been attributed to regionalization of perinatal care. Outreach education from regional medical centres to community hospitals is an essential component of regionalization. The Perinatal Continuing Education Program (PCEP) has been successfully used for outreach education in more than 30 states since 1979. This project tested the efficacy of implementing the PCEP strategy in Poland. PCEP was adapted to Polish conditions, translated, and implemented in four phases. The scheme allowed gradual transfer of ownership to Polish leaders and use of the existing regional structure to disseminate information from regional centres to community hospitals. Evaluation included measures of programme use (participation and completion rates) and acceptance (participant evaluation forms), cognitive knowledge (pre- vs. post-tests), and patient care (chart reviews). Of 2093 doctors, nurses and midwives who began, 1615 (77%) completed the programme, with higher completion by regional centre than community hospital staff. All participant groups responded favourably to the materials and expressed moderate confidence in their mastery of the information and skills. Test scores improved significantly for all phases and for all disciplines, with baseline and final scores consistent with degrees of previous professional education. Large baseline and inter-hospital variations in chart review data restricted analysis of care practices. A comprehensive perinatal education programme can be successfully transferred to a foreign health care system. We believe the following to be particularly important: multidisciplinary instructors and students; a self-instructional format; content aimed at practice rather than theory; and an organized implementation strategy co-ordinated by local personnel.     

Organization and financing of mental health care in Poland

ORGANIZATION OF CARE: Health care is provided to patients with mental disorders by the state health care facilities as well as by social help agencies. Mental health care services are provided mostly by mental health facilities and partly by primary care units. Outpatient clinics, separate for psychiatric patients and substance abusers, are the most numerous mental health care units, amounting to a total of 1120. Intermediate care facilities include 110 day hospitals, 23 community mobile teams and ten hostels. The number of hospital beds amounts to 31913, i.e. 8.3 beds per 10000 population. 80% of beds are located in mental hospitals. TRENDS OF DEVELOPMENT: The trends in mental health care development are outlined in the Mental Health Programme and accompanying documents accepted by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare. The programme defines specific goals to be achieved by the year 2005 in the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of mental disorders. In the domain of mental health care accessibility the most important goals are the following: a significant reduction in the number of beds in large mental hospitals, a marked (nearly threefold) rise in the number of beds in psychiatric wards at general hospitals and a significant increase in the number of community-based forms of care (e.g. a fourfold rise in the number of day hospitals). FINANCING OF CARE: Before 1999, the health care system was financed from the state budget and the health care spendings were subject to a political auction each year. Allocation of funds among hospitals and health care centres was based on the total previous year budgetary spendings of particular facilities and did not take into account a detailed cost analysis. Such a financing approach, although giving a feeling of a relative financial safety, did not encourage health care facilities to introduce an organizational flexibility and to expand the scope of their services. In psychiatry, it manifested itself in a very slow development of some community psychiatry forms (mostly day hospitals, mobile community teams and hostels). The Health Care Institutions Act has created a legal framework for the financial management of health care units in their new, independent form. Conditions for health care financing through regional sickness funds were thus created. The financing is currently based on contracts made by sickness funds with health care facilities for specific health services. Both the quantity and price of services should be mutually negotiated. Some simplified measures of services offered were used during the first insurance financing year. In mental hospitals and day hospitals it was a person-day; in out-patient care it was a visit. Both cost indicators were aggregated, including all the components present so far in the functioning a given unit.     

Equity in health care financing: The case of Malaysia

Background

Equitable financing is a key objective of health care systems. Its importance is evidenced in policy documents, policy statements, the work of health economists and policy analysts. The conventional categorisations of finance sources for health care are taxation, social health insurance, private health insurance and out-of-pocket payments. There are nonetheless increasing variations in the finance sources used to fund health care. An understanding of the equity implications would help policy makers in achieving equitable financing.

Objective

The primary purpose of this paper was to comprehensively assess the equity of health care financing in Malaysia, which represents a new country context for the quantitative techniques used. The paper evaluated each of the five financing sources (direct taxes, indirect taxes, contributions to Employee Provident Fund and Social Security Organization, private insurance and out-of-pocket payments) independently, and subsequently by combined the financing sources to evaluate the whole financing system.

Methods

Cross-sectional analyses were performed on the Household Expenditure Survey Malaysia 1998/99, using Stata statistical software package. In order to assess inequality, progressivity of each finance sources and the whole financing system was measured by Kakwani's progressivity index.

Results

Results showed that Malaysia's predominantly tax-financed system was slightly progressive with a Kakwani's progressivity index of 0.186. The net progressive effect was produced by four progressive finance sources (in the decreasing order of direct taxes, private insurance premiums, out-of-pocket payments, contributions to EPF and SOCSO) and a regressive finance source (indirect taxes).

Conclusion

Malaysia's two tier health system, of a heavily subsidised public sector and a user charged private sector, has produced a progressive health financing system. The case of Malaysia exemplifies that policy makers can gain an in depth understanding of the equity impact, in order to help shape health financing strategies for the nation.

     

The health care sector as economic driver: an economic analysis of the health care market in the city of Berlin

Taking the German capital Berlin as an example, the role of the health care sector in terms of employment, revenues and growth is empirically assessed. The article is based on the authors study Gesundheitsmarkt Berlin—Perspektiven für Wachstum und Beschäftigung (Henke et al. 2002) (The Berlin Health Care Market—Growth and Employment Prospects). For this purpose, the authors collected data for the years 1998, 1999 and 2000 on turnovers and employment in the various sectors of the local health care market. Results indicate that 177,781 persons, or almost one out of eight persons, are employed in health-related areas in Berlin, which is more than in the German average. The gross value added of Berlins health care market has been estimated at €6.8 billion, corresponding to 10% of the gross value added of Berlins overall economy in 1999. Health expenditures are estimated at 11.9%, which is higher than the German average at 10.8%. Taking these figures as a basis, suggestions to strengthen and further develop this potential are derived. This article demonstrates that health care can be an important economic factor in the regional context and thus should not only be regarded as a cost factor but should be developed.