An Introduction to

Health Care System

By: Christine R. Guerrero, RMT, MLS (ASCPi)CM

Definition of Health System

Health Care Reform
History of Health System
Why Health System History Matters
Attributes of a Good Health System
Attributes of a Better Health System
 DEFINITIONS
Ahealthsystem,alsosometimesreferredto
ashealthcaresystemorashealthcaresystem,
istheorganizationofpeople,institutions,and
resourcesthatdeliverhealthcareservicesto
meetthehealthneedsoftargetpopulations.
Healthcarereformisageneralrubricused
fordiscussingmajorhealthpolicycreationor
changesforthemostpart,governmental
policythataffectshealthcaredeliveryina
givenplace.
History of Health Care - Origins
The Catholic Church established a hospital
system in Medieval Europe that vastly
improves from the merely reciprocal
hospitality of the [Jews and] Greeks and
family-based obligations of the Romans.
These hospitals were established to cater to
"particular social groups marginalized by
poverty, sickness, and age," according to
historian of hospitals, Guenter Risse. [Risse, Guenter
B (April 1999). Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals. Oxford
University Press. p. 59. ]
 History of Health Care - Origins
Sir William Osler (18491919) and a few
dozen other visionary clinicians (William
Halsted, Howard Kelly, Florence
Nightingale, William Welch, Harvey
Cushing, etc.) laid the foundation for
modern clinical care. He has frequently
been described as the "Father of Modern
Medicine" and one of the "greatest
diagnosticians ever to wield a stethoscope".
He lived and practiced during a time of
great change in healthcare.
 History of Health Care - Origins
Does history matter?
All of this history is important because it
changes how we think about the present and
future. (Healthcare: A Better Way, John L. Haughom, MD, 2017
HealthCatalyst.com, p. 9)

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on

retentiveness. When change is absolute there
remains no being to improve and no direction is set
for possible improvement, and when experience is not
retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual.
Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it. -George Santayana, 1905.
 History of Health Care - Origins
In other words, the main point in
developing a good health system lies
NOT in mere innovation but in improving
what has already worked in the past.
Read it upyou really should. There is
nothing new under the sun. It has all been
done before. -Sherlock Holmes, quoting Ecclesiastes
Indeed, many so called innovations were
already done before.
 History of Health Care - Origins
Hand washing, for example, was
practiced by Jewish rabbis and Catholic
priests alike before the advent of modern
medicine as a religious act.
This very religious act also helped prevent
the spread of disease in both Jewish
ghettos and Catholic monasteries.
Hand washing was already practiced
before the science of microbiology.
 HealthSystemand
HealthCareReform
Oftenhealthsystemhasbeendefined
withareductionistperspective,for
examplereducingittohealthcaresystem.
Inmanypublications,forexample,both
expressionsareusedinterchangeably.

Someauthorshavedevelopedarguments
toexpandtheconceptofhealthsystems,
indicatingadditionaldimensionsthat
shouldbeconsidered:
 HealthSystemand
HealthCareReform
Health systems should not be expressed in terms of their
components only, but also of their interrelationships;
Health systems should include not only the institutional or supply
side of the health system, but also the population;
Health systems must be seen in terms of their goals, which include
not only health improvement, but also equity, responsiveness to
legitimate expectations, respect of dignity, and fair financing,
among others;
Health systems must also be defined in terms of their functions,
including the direct provision of services, whether they are medical
or public health services, but also "other enabling functions, such
as stewardship, financing, and resource generation, including what
is probably the most complex of all challenges, the health
workforce."
 Attributesofa
GoodHealthSystem
New, high standards of clinical education
Strict requirements for professional licensing
Clinical practice founded on scientific research
New internal organization for hospitals
Creation of new, more modern nurse practices
Implementation of more modern hygiene
techniques
New public health policies and treatments
 Attributesofa
GoodHealthSystem
New, high standards of clinical education
Strict requirements for professional licensing
Clinical practice founded on scientific research
New internal organization for hospitals
Creation of new, more modern nurse practices
Implementation of more modern hygiene
techniques
New public health policies and treatments
 Attributesofa
GoodHealthSystem
LET US REMEMBER THAT MERE
INNOVATION IS NOT SYNONYMOUS
WITH IMPROVEMENT.
Sir Isaac Newton is known to have said,
If I have seen further it is by standing on the
shoulders of giants.
Just because something is new does NOT
mean that it is better.
 Attributesofa
GoodHealthSystem
New, high standards of clinical education
Strict requirements for professional licensing
Clinical practice founded on scientific research
New internal organization for hospitals
Creation of new, more modern nurse practices
Implementation of more modern hygiene
techniques
New public health policies and treatments
 Attributesofa
BETTERHealthSystem
Better standards of clinical education
Rational requirements for professional licensing
Clinical practice founded on scientific principles
Effective internal organization for hospitals
Creation of better medical practices
Implementation of successful hygiene
techniques
Efficient public health policies and treatments
 Thethingthathathbeen,itisthat
whichshallbe;andthatwhichisdone
isthatwhichshallbedone:thereisno
newthingunderthesun.Isthere
anythingthatmaybesaid,See,thisis
new?Ithathbeenalreadyofoldtime,
whichwasbeforeus.
Ecclesiastesi.910