Towards high-performing health systems: summary report

This report summarises the final report on the OECD Health Project, "Towards high-performing health systems." Findings reveal that health has improved due to expansion in health services, but that the costs of financing health systems will continue to rise. Private health insurance has not led to significant reduction in public spending on health and well-designed government interventions are critical to the success of a private health insurance market. Other findings indicate that better methods of paying providers and purchasing care can pay off in terms of value of service; and structural reform to health systems and organisation of delivery and management also hold promise.

The OECD Health Project suggests a number of approaches to help strengthen health systems. To improve health status and health outcomes, it recommends employing strategies that prevent illness and disability, which may require reallocation of health systems resources from care to prevention or changes in the way resources are spent. To foster adequate and equitable access to care, the project recommends eliminating financial barriers by: providing or subsidising health coverage for the poor; exempting poor persons form patient cost-sharing requirements; and allowing complementary private health insurance to cover a portion of user fees in cases where they are high enough to create access barriers. [adapted from author]