This subject focuses on understanding the complexity of health care systems around the world through comparing and contrasting their aims and visions, how they are designed, underlying rationales, policies in the context of societal needs and resource demands. The interface between health and politics, economics and social structure will be considered. You will analyse the comparative advantages and disadvantages of approaches to health care provision in different healthcare contexts. Topics to be covered include principles of health care system design, public and private systems, decentralised health care, centralised control, healthcare financing and national health insurance schemes, and how performance of healthcare systems is evaluated. Themes, issues and trends in health sector reform worldwide are explored.
