Description
This volume examines the public/private sector mix in a variety of national healthcare systems and their interface with the goals of health equity and quality of healthcare. By examining the mix of public and private sector funding of healthcare services as well as the mix of public and private sector delivery of healthcare services in various national contexts, authors address the question of how various national systems are affected with respect to their ability, or the lack thereof, to achieve goals of health equity and quality of healthcare in an efficient manner. The significance of this collection of national studies involving the public/private sector mix is that it provides insights into the factors that enhance the public/private sector mix in fulfilling the goals of health equity and the quality of healthcare services as well as an understanding of the circumstances in which elements of the public/private sector mix may be harmful for the achievement of such goals. This volume examines these issues as they have arisen in the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, the Russian Federation and Taiwan.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Comments on the Public/Private Sector Mix in Healthcare 1- United States: The Dominance of Public funding for Private Provision in the U.S. Healthcare System 2- Canada: Public and Private Interfaces in Canadian Healthcare: Health Equity and Qualityof Healthcare Services Implications 3- Australia: Australia's Health Insurance System and Its Two-Level Hospital system --- a Result of Muddled and Contested Objectives4- France: The Public/Private Sector Mix in France: Implications and Current Debates5- Sweden: Sweden's Public/Private Sector Mix in the Financing and Delivery of HealthcareServices: How it Relates to Health Equity and Quality of Healthcare Services6- The Netherlands: The Changing Private Sector Role in the Netherlands' Public/Private Sector Healthcare System: Some considerations of Health Equity and Quality of Care7- Italy: The Public/Private Sector Mix in the Italian Healthcare System: Some Issues of Equityand Quality of Care 8- Chile and Mexico: Healthcare Commodification, Equity and Quality in Chile and Mexico9- Uruguay: Examining Improvement of Mixed Healthcare Services: Equity and Quality of Healthcare Services in Uruguay10- Brazil: Public/Private Mix In Healthcare --- Inequities and Issues of Quality of Care: The Case of Brazil11- Russia: The Public/Private Mix in Healthcare in Russia: Some Impacts on Health Equity and Quality if Healthcare Services 12- Taiwan: Achievements and Challenges in a Single Payer System
