What are health systems?
A health system, also known as a healthcare system, is the organised framework of institutions, resources, and people that deliver healthcare services to meet the health needs of a population.
A health system is a complex structure typically organised around six building blocks often used to analyse and form policy:
- Service Delivery
- Human Resources
- Information
- Financing
- Governance
- Health Technologies
The primary goal of a health system is to improve health outcomes by providing accessible, high-quality, and affordable care. A well-coordinated health system ensures that all these components work together to improve population health, enhance patient experiences, and reduce healthcare costs.
A health system is not just about the components but also the diverse stakeholders forming a complex ecosystem. These stakeholders, including patients and patient advocacy groups, health workers, healthcare providers, government and regulators, payers and economic operators, including manufacturers, are all vital parts of the healthcare ecosystem.
Overall, a health system’s effectiveness is greatly influenced by the collaboration among its stakeholders. This collaboration is essential to ensure that health technology development, procurement, and management processes acquire safe, high-quality products that meet the needs of patients and healthcare providers while complying with regulatory requirements and budget constraints.
For healthcare and medical device professionals, understanding health systems and their stakeholders is not just a matter of interest, but a professional necessity. It is crucial for ensuring efficient, equitable, and effective healthcare delivery. It enables all stakeholders to identify and address gaps, optimise resource allocation, and improve service quality. Knowledge of health systems helps in designing interventions that enhance access, affordability, and sustainability of care. It also supports the integration of advanced technologies, improves patient outcomes, and fosters resilience against public health crises. By comprehending how health systems function, we can develop strategies to reduce health disparities, enhance patient satisfaction, and achieve universal health coverage, ultimately contributing to the overall well-being of the population.