Blurring the boundaries between public and private health care services as an alternative explanation for the emergence of black medicine: the Israeli case

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dani Filc ◽  
Nissim Cohen

AbstractBlack medicine represents the most problematic configuration of informal payments for health care. According to the accepted economic explanations, we would not expect to find black medicine in a system with a developed private service. Using Israel as a case study, we suggest an alternative yet a complimentary explanation for the emergence of black medicine in public health care systems – even though citizens do have the formal option to use private channels. We claim that when regulation is weak and political culture is based on ‘do it yourself’ strategies, which meant to solve immediate problems, blurring the boundaries between public and private health care services may only reduce public trust and in turn, contribute to the emergence of black medicine. We used a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology to support our claim. Statistical analysis of the results suggested that the only variable significantly associated with the use of black medicine was trust in the health care system. The higher the respondents’ level of trust in the health care system, the lower the rate of the use of black medicine. Qualitatively, interviewee emphasized the relation between the blurred boundaries between public and private health care and the use of black medicine.

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANI FILC

The transition from the Fordist hegemonic model to post-Fordism is a complex process. It is not the unavoidable result of technological changes, but the contingent consequence of a hegemonic, political, struggle taking place at the different spheres of the social. This article studies the transformations that took place in the Israeli health care system during the last two decades in order to exemplify the political and contradictory character of the transition to post-Fordism. The article emphasises the contradiction between the partial commodification of financing and the privatisation of certain health care facilities, and the legislation of the National Health Insurance Law, which guaranteed the right to access to public health care services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-43
Author(s):  
Sukhvinder Singh Oberoi ◽  
Shibani Grover ◽  
Shabina Sachdeva

The COVID-19 has impacted the health service delivery especially, the public health care system which is already overburdened. The dental health care carries the huge risk of infection due to the generation of the aerosols, through high-speed airotor. This has led to a big toll on the delivery of the dental services at global level. Even when the oral health care services are getting opened, there is still lot of dilemmas in the mind of oral health professionals in provision of the services. This crisis has given us a chance for addressing the issues of relevance affecting the oral health care services and failures of the health care system. It is time to rethink our priorities and strengthen the over-all integrity of the health care system. These calls for higher focus upon the oral care prevention strategies can be amalgamated as part of the public health care system along with strengthening of public health care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-29
Author(s):  
S. Wahl ◽  
A. Czirfusz

A health network is made up of institutions and organizations, resources, and people whose main purpose is to promote and improve health. The health care system in Germany is self-administering and is managed by multiple institutions and stakeholders which entails different organizations involved in the running of the health care as well as the structure of the health care system. The health care system is composed of three main areas: 1) outpatient care services, 2) inpatient care, 3) rehabilitation institutions. Some of the organizations and institutions that are mandated to run the health system include associations and representatives of different professions and service providers, regulatory bodies, health insurance companies, the Federal Ministry of Health, self-help groups, and patient-centered organizations. The German health care system is made up of four main principles: 1) compulsory insurance, 2) the principle of solidarity, 3) financing through insurance premiums, 4) selfgovernance. The goal of health care networks is to improve the overall performance of the health care systems concerning: 1) economic efficiency, 2) quality of health care services, 3) medical innovation, 4) as well as patient satisfaction.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Alexandersen ◽  
Anders Anell ◽  
Oddvar Kaarboe ◽  
Juhani S Lehto ◽  
Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen ◽  
...  

The Nordic countries represent an institutional setting with tax-based health care financing and universal access to health care services. Very few health care services are excluded from what are offered within the publically financed health care system. User fees are often non-existing or low and capped. Nevertheless, the markets for voluntary private health insurance (VPHI) have been rapidly expanding. In this paper we describe the development of the market for VPHI in the Nordic countries. We outline similarities and differences and provide discussion of the rationale for the existence of different types of VPHI. Data is collected on the population covered by VPHI, type and scope of coverage, suppliers of VPHI and their relations with health providers. It seems that the main roles of VPHI are to cover out-of-pocket payments for services that are only partly financed by the public health care system (complementary), and to provide preferential access to treatments that are also available free of charge within the public health care system, but often with some waiting time (duplicate).Published: April 2016.


2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-112
Author(s):  
Daniel Ślęzak ◽  
Przemysław Żuratyński ◽  
Klaudiusz Nadolny ◽  
Marlena Robakowska ◽  
Alicja Kalis

Health care systems face challenges related to the technological advances in medicine, demographic changes and limited opportunities for growth funding for health, necessitating greater involvement in the search for more efficient systems. The authors present the functioning of the Polish health care system based on social, historical outline of the healthcare system in Poland and the functioning of the National Health Fund (NFZ). Poland has undergone many reforms of the health care system, the Bismarck model, the model Siemaszko, and finally to a model of universal health insurance. So everyone has the same right to health care services financed by the NFZ or directly from the state budget (eg. The system of state emergency medical services). The National Health Fund allows anyone insured to free healthcare and reimbursement of medicines. Introduced information about information programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272110535
Author(s):  
Nathan Wright ◽  
Marylee Scherdt ◽  
Michelle L. Aebersold ◽  
Marjorie C. McCullagh ◽  
Barbara R. Medvec ◽  
...  

Objectives: Rural residents comprise approximately 15% of the United States population. They face challenges in accessing and using a health care system that is not structured to meet their unique needs. It is important to understand rural residents’ perceptions of health and experiences interacting with the health care system to identify gaps in care. Methods: Our team conducted focus groups with members of the Michigan Farm Bureau during their 2019 Annual Meeting. Topics explored included resources to manage health, barriers to virtual health care services, and desired changes to localized healthcare delivery. Surveys were used to capture demographic and internet access information. Conclusion: Analysis included data from 2 focus groups (n = 14). Participants represented a wide age range and a variety of Michigan counties. The majority were full-time farm owners with most—93% (n = 13)—reporting they had access to the internet in their homes and 86% (n = 12) reporting that their cellphones had internet capabilities. Participants identified challenges and opportunities in 4 categories: formal health care; health and well-being supports; health insurance experiences; and virtual health care. Conclusion: The findings from this study provide a useful framework for developing interventions to address the specific needs of rural farming residents. Despite the expressed challenges in access and use of health care services and resources, participants remained hopeful that innovative approaches, such as virtual health platforms, can address existing gaps in care. The study findings should inform the design and evaluation of interventions to address rural health disparities.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rimantas Stašys ◽  
Gintautas Virketis ◽  
Daiva Labanauskaitė

Purpose The purpose of this study/paper is to identify the importance of the partnership between the public and private health-care institutions to improve interhospital patient transfers. Scientific research and statistical data show the increased number of interhospital transportation services; therefore, timely and qualified patient transportation between different health-care institutions must be considered, the activity that directly and significantly impacts the patient’s health status and overall quality of the health-care services. The successful patient transportation from the smaller hospitals to the health-care institutions with advanced intensive care or urgent care units can be enhanced through the partnership between private and public health-care institutions. Design/methodology/approach The methodology included quantitative method, statistical data analysis and theoretical data generalization. Both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed during the research. Expert quantification was performed using the survey research method. The survey was conducted in Lithuania. The respondents were selected to be the general managers of the health-care and urgent care institutions, the chief doctors of the reanimation and intensive care department also the chief doctors of the emergency department. Findings Because of the centralization and regionalization of health-care services, the number of patients transferred between hospitals by the emergency medical services (EMS) and personal health-care institutions has increased. University hospitals are not sufficiently prepared to accept an increasing flow of patients in accordance with the Ministry of Health orders. Not all regional or district hospitals have the right to provide such assistance, which increases transportation time and costs as well as requires additional human resources. The five EMS categories could be used to improve the patient transfer between different levels of health-care institutions. To increase partnership between private and public health-care organizations, incentives should be provided for the development of private health-care organizations, as well as encouraging actions should be taken to increase the demand for private health-care services by Lithuanian patients. Practical implications Five EMS categories identified in this paper could be used to ensure a smooth mechanism for the patient transfer between different levels of the personal health-care institutions. The proposed categories should also be used in the pre-stationary emergency phase (for reducing the interhospital patient transportation amount). Social implications Properly organized secondary and tertiary interhospital patient transfers influence the availability and quality of the EMS and reduce inequalities in the provided services and social exclusion. Originality/value This paper presents the classification of the interhospital transfer issues, determines the main reasons for the patient interhospital transfer, creates the model for the EMS patient process flows and defines five EMS categories for the assessment of patient conditions. Therefore, the research conducted and the results obtained have both theoretical and social-practical value.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Landa ◽  
Karolina Skóra

Restrictions to health services in Poland have been an inspiration to establish Watch Health Care Foundation (WHC). The fundamental disease of the system is namely the disproportion between the amount of the funds and the contents of the package. It causes everywhere the same ’symptoms’ and leads to the same pathological phenomena: queues and other forms of rationing (’guaranteed’) health benefits, corruption, making use of privileges. Foundation uses the potential of information society and available infrastructure (web portal http://www.watchealthcare.eu) and all activities are presented on the website with the aim of influencing the health care system. On the basis of reports of limited access to health services, a ranking is created at WHC web portal, which aims to show what the biggest gaps in access to health services are - this is the way of showing the patient and health care system needs and also one possible approach of continuous education of the health care services consumers targeted at health care systems improvement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Morais Nunes ◽  
Diogo Cunha Ferreira ◽  
Adalberto Campos Fernandes

Portugal has faced an economic and financial crisis that began circa FY2009 and whose effects are still ongoing. In FY2011, the Portuguese state and the European triumvirate – composed of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank – signed the Memoranda of Understanding. This troika agreement aimed to improve the operational efficiency of public services. This crisis had a considerable impact on the Portuguese citizens’ life and productivity, as well as on the public health care system. Cuts over public expenditures have been made to reduce the risk of noncompliance with budgetary targets, despite their potential impact on quality and access to health care services. We analyzed the main policies and measures undertaken by the Portuguese Ministry of Health with respect to the bailout program associated with the troika agreement. Then, we focused on the budgetary cuts–related risks over the social performance of the care system. Evidence suggests that structural reforms in the health care sector in the troika period had positive effects in terms of drugs administration and consumption, on the one hand, and secondary care expenditures reduction, on the other hand. Nonetheless, we observed some divestitures on infrastructures and the worsening of access to health care services.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document