Premium
Reforms in the Portuguese health care sector: Challenges and proposals
Author(s) -
Nunes Alexandre Morais,
Ferreira Diogo Cunha
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the international journal of health planning and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-1751
pISSN - 0749-6753
DOI - 10.1002/hpm.2695
Subject(s) - austerity , health care , portuguese , public health , business , economic growth , politics , health care reform , economic policy , public administration , health policy , political science , medicine , economics , nursing , linguistics , philosophy , law
Summary Portugal has one of the most complete public systems worldwide. Since 1979, the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) was developed based on the integration and complementarity between different levels of care (primary, secondary, continued, and palliative care). However, in 2009, the absence of economic growth and the increased foreign debt led the country to a severe economic slowdown, reducing the public funding and weakening the decentralized model of health care administration. During the austerity period, political attention has focused primarily on reducing health care costs and consolidating the efficiency and sustainability with no structural reform. After the postcrisis period (since 2016), the recovery of the public health system begun. Since then, some proposals have required a reform of the health sector's governance structure based on the promotion of access, quality, and efficiency. This study presents several key issues involved in the current postcrisis reform of the Portuguese NHS response structure to citizens' needs. The article also discusses the implications of this Portuguese experience based on current reforms with impact on the future of citizens' health.