Suchergebnisse

This article starts with background information on the Slovenian healthcare system and the description of the evolutionary process and privatisation reforms that bring a mix of public and private healthcare services. The authors' aim is to conceptualise existing modes of public and private healthcare provision and discuss possible implications for user choice and accessibility of services. A descriptive and exploratory case study approach was employed. Literature and document analysis was complemented by secondary data and semi-structured interviews. The results demonstrate four modes of healthcare services in relation to public-private delivery. The 'public non-profit' type refers to publicly financed and delivered services. The 'private within public' type addresses services provided within and by the public sector for patients who pay out-of-pocket. The 'private for public' type deals with services provided by private entities with concessions. The 'private for-profit' type refers to completely private provision (without concession) of self-pay services. The strengths and weaknesses of each mode with respect to choice, space-time accessibility, financial accessibility and quality of services are critically discussed. The results of the study show that private healthcare services significantly complement and compete with public sector. In addition, there is a risk that uncontrolled mixing of public and private modes of practice may bring about unethical behaviour and corruption.

This original and innovative book opens up new perspectives in health policy debate, examining the emerging international trends in the governance of health professions and the significance of national contexts for the changing health workforce. In bringing together research from a wide range of continental European countries as well as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the contributors highlight different arenas of governance, as well as the various players involved in the policy process. They expand the public debate on professional governance - hitherto mainly limited to medical self-regulation - to encompass a broad span of health care providers, from nurses and midwives to alternative therapists and health support workers. The book provides new data and geopolitical perspectives in the debate over how to govern health care. It helps to better understand both the enabling conditions for, and the barriers to, making professionals more accountable to the interests of a changing public. This book will be a valuable resource for students at an undergraduate and postgraduate level, particularly for health programmes, sociology of professions and comparative health policy, but also for academics, researchers and managers working in health care.