For many citizens primary health care is the first point of contact with their health care system, where most of their health needs are satisfied but also acting as the gate to the rest of the system. In that respect primary care plays a crucial role in how patients value health systems as responsive to their needs and expectations. This volume analyses the way how primary are is organized and delivered across European countries, looking at governance, financing and workforce aspects and the breadth of the service profiles. It describes wide national variations in terms of accessibility, continuity and coordination. Relating these differences to health system outcomes the authors suggest some priority areas for reducing the gap between the ideal and current realities.

Ask for a definition of primary care, and you are likely to hear as many answers as there are health care professionals in your survey. Primary Care fills this gap with a detailed definition already adopted by professional organizations and praised at recent conferences. This volume makes recommendations for improving primary care, building its organization, financing, infrastructure, and knowledge baseâ€"as well as developing a way of thinking and acting for primary care clinicians. Are there enough primary care doctors? Are they merely gatekeepers? Is the traditional relationship between patient and doctor outmoded? The committee draws conclusions about these and other controversies in a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion that covers: The scope of primary care. Its philosophical underpinnings. Its value to the patient and the community. Its impact on cost, access, and quality. This volume discusses the needs of special populations, the role of the capitation method of payment, and more. Recommendations are offered for achieving a more multidisciplinary education for primary care clinicians. Research priorities are identified. Primary Care provides a forward-thinking view of primary care as it should be practiced in the new integrated health care delivery systemsâ€"important to health care clinicians and those who train and employ them, policymakers at all levels, health care managers, payers, and interested individuals.

Primary Care Centres explores the process of planning and designing buildings for frontline medical practice. Taking as a starting point the concept that good design contributes directly to healthy living, the book shows beneficial effects that a good design brief can bring to the staff, patients and visitors of health care facilities. It outlines principles for designs that are both practical and useful. International case studies of healthcare facilities in the UK, US, Japan and South Africa provide technical detail and give best practice examples of well-designed healthy living centres, with an emphasis on building performance and catering for the latest government policy developments. This new edition provides trusted guidance on investing in effective architecture for architects and project managers involved in the design of healthcare facilities. Dr Geoffrey Purves is Chairman of Purves Ash LLP, a firm of Architects in Newcastle upon Tyne. He has held a range of professional appointments with the Royal Institute of British Architects and is an Honorary Research Associate at Durham University.

Ensuring that members of society are healthy and reaching their full potential requires the prevention of disease and injury; the promotion of health and well-being; the assurance of conditions in which people can be healthy; and the provision of timely, effective, and coordinated health care. Achieving substantial and lasting improvements in population health will require a concerted effort from all these entities, aligned with a common goal. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) examine the integration of primary care and public health. Primary Care and Public Health identifies the best examples of effective public health and primary care integration and the factors that promote and sustain these efforts, examines ways by which HRSA and CDC can use provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to promote the integration of primary care and public health, and discusses how HRSA-supported primary care systems and state and local public health departments can effectively integrate and coordinate to improve efforts directed at disease prevention. This report is essential for all health care centers and providers, state and local policy makers, educators, government agencies, and the public for learning how to integrate and improve population health.

This report is the first of its kind to measure health service coverage and financial protection to assess countries' progress towards universal health coverage. It shows that at least 400 million people do not have access to one or more essential health services and 6% of people in low- and middle-income countries are tipped into or pushed further into extreme poverty because of health spending. Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people receive the quality essential health services they need without being exposed to financial hardship. A significant number of countries at all levels of development are embracing the goal of UHC as the right thing to do for their citizens. It is a powerful social equalizer and contributes to social cohesion and stability. Every country has the potential to improve the performance of its health system in the main dimensions of UHC: coverage of quality services and financial protection for all. Priorities strategies and implementation plans for UHC will differ from one country to another. Enhanced and expanded monitoring of health under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should seek to build on that experience sharpening our focus on the key health service and financial protection interventions that underpin UHC. Effective UHC tracking is central to achieving the global goals for poverty alleviation and health improvement set by the World Bank Group and WHO. Without it policymakers and decision-takers cannot say exactly where they are or set a course for where they want to go. They cannot know whether they are focussing their efforts in the right areas or whether their efforts are making a difference. Monitoring is thus fundamental to the achievement of UHC objectives. It will also be vital to the realization of the SDGs. This report is a critical step to show how monitoring progress can be done telling us what the state of coverage of interventions and financial protection is and telling us where to focus most.

Over half the world's rural population, and many in urban slums, have minimal access to health services. This book describes how to set up new, and develop existing, community-based health care for, by and with, the community.

The Portuguese economy has rebounded strongly from the COVID-19 crisis. Though high inflation and weak global economic conditions have slowed growth in 2022, renewed fiscal support helped to cushion the impact. Public debt relative to GDP has declined below its 2019 level, but rapid population ageing and strong investment needs are increasing fiscal pressures.

Get the big picture on the past, present, and future of the Canadian health care system! The only text of its kind, Health and Health Care Delivery in Canada, 4th Edition helps to prepare you for a career as a health care professional in Canada. Content includes topics such as population health initiatives, the determinants of health, the role of federal agencies and provincial governments, health care funding, and issues and trends in health care. Case Examples and Thinking It Through questions guide you through the intersection of individual health and the health care system. Written by experienced educator Valerie D. Thompson, this textbook is ideal for all Canadian students beginning a career in health care. - Comprehensive approach features an engaging, easy-to-understand, personal writing style. - Thinking It Through questions ask you to explore personal views and critically consider the aspects of health and health care delivery. - Case Examples provide real-world scenarios related to the chapter topics. - Did You Know? boxes present facts, points of interest, and actual health care situations. - Chapter Summaries cover the chapter's key takeaways. - Review questions at the end of every chapter test your comprehension of the material. - Key Terms open each chapter. - NEW! Completely updated content is included in Thinking It Through, Did You Know? and Case Example feature boxes. - NEW! Content on Indigenous health includes the pre-colonial history of health care in Canada as well as post-colonial policies affecting Indigenous populations. - NEW! Issues of inclusion and inequality vis-à-vis the Social Determinants of Health are threaded throughout the book. - NEW! Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic includes its impact on health care spending, social inequality, quarantine powers, public health, and the rights of the individual.