New Provider Models for Sweden and Spain: Public, Private or Non-profit?; Comment on “Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors

1 Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Celsus Academy for Sustainable Healthcare, and Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

2 Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Abstract

Sweden and Spain experiment with different provider models to reform healthcare provision. Both models have in common that they extend the role of the for-profit sector in healthcare. As the analysis of Saltman and Duran demonstrates, privatisation is an ambiguous and contested strategy that is used for quite different purposes. In our comment, we emphasize that their analysis leaves questions open on the consequences of privatisation for the performance of healthcare and the role of the public sector in healthcare provision. Furthermore, we briefly address the absence of the option of healthcare provision by not-for-profit providers in the privatisation strategy of Sweden and Spain.

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References

  1. Saltman RB, Duran A. Governance, government, and the search for new provider models. International Journal of Health Policy Management. 2015;5(1):33-42. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2015.198.
  2. OECD. Health at a Glance. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2015.
  3. Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health. Best practices and potential pitfalls in public health sector commissioning from private providers. http://ec.europa.eu/health/expert_panel/mandates/docs/commissioning_private_providers_en.pdf . Published 2016.
  4. Jeurissen PP, For-profit hospitals. A comparative and longitudinal study or the for-profit hospital sector in four Western countries [dissertation]. Erasmus: Erasmus University; 2010.
  5. Shen YC, The effects of HMO and its for-profit expansion on the survival of specialized hospital services. NBER Working Paper 12374; 2006.
  6. Maarse H, Jeurissen P, Ruwaard D. Results of the market-oriented reform in the Netherlands: a review. Health Econ Policy Law. 2016;11(2):161-178. doi:10.1017/S1744133115000353.

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History

  • Receive Date: 11 May 2016
  • Revise Date: 25 June 2016
  • Accept Date: 25 June 2016
  • First Publish Date: 01 December 2016

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