What is Healthcare System

A healthcare system also sometimes referred to as health system, is a community or organizations that include people, resources and service to meet the health needs of society delivering health care services.

There are several aspects of the healthcare system including:

Hospital Systems: A group of hospitals working together to deliver healthcare services to society with each of them having a different type of ownership and financial goals e.g. Public hospitals, Private and Non-profit hospitals.

Public health programs/Health Insurance:  Healthcare system is designed to ensure that even poor can get different levels of healthcare in a timely, cost-effective and seamless manner through various health programs offered by government. Insurance is provided by employees to make sure expenses will be incurred from any disease or pay the care provider directly.

Types of patient care: Depending on the need, there are several different types of patient care including primary care, specialty care, emergency care, mental healthcare.

Overview

In general terms, healthcare system is the group of institutions, people, and resources that provide effective health care services to convene the health needs of target populations. Globally, nations must design and develop healthcare systems in accordance with their needs and resources, although common elements in almost all health systems are primary healthcare and public health measures. To elaborate a little, health system planning in some countries is circulated among various market participants. Whereas, in others there is a concerted effort among trade unions, governments, religious organizations, charities, or other coordinated bodies to bring in planned health care services targeted to the populations they serve. Healthcare planning in oftentimes described evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

The performance of healthcare system

From a global systems point of view, the functioning of a healthcare system can be looked upon in terms of the healthcare outcomes it produces, the size and makeup of the population it serves, and the amount of resources it consumes.

Essential components of an effective health system

To be sure that a health system is functioning well in a balanced manner and that it meets the needs and expectations of the population, below are few factors that it can be met:

• It helps in improving the health status of families, individuals, and communities from defending the population against what threatens its health

• Shielding people against the financial consequences of ill-health

• Offering fair grant to people-centred care, making it certain for people to partake in decisions that disturbs their health and health system

Without solid leadership and policies, the health systems do not impulsively offer balanced responses to the challenges in the healthcare arena, nor do they make the most effective use of their resources. Most health leaders are aware that health systems are subjected to powerful forces and influences that often override rational policy making. These forces however contain an unbalanced focus on specialist curative care, disintegration in a multiplicity of competing programs, projects and institutions, and the persistent commercialization of health care delivery in feebly regulated systems. There requires a strong sense of direction, coherent investment in the various building blocks of the health system to keep health systems on track to be able to produce results.