Abstract
Recognizing the advantages of primary care as a means of improving the entire health system, this text comments on reforms of publicly funded primary health centers, and the rapid development of private for-profit providers in Sweden. Many goals and expectations are connected to such reforms, which equally require critical analyses of scarce resources, professional trust/motivation and business logic in the wake of freedom and control of ownership and management. In line with Saltman and Duran, this article calls for research and a methodologically developed approach to capture everyday practice in-depth and how regulation, market incentives and patient demands are met by professionals and primary care leaders.
Highlights
In a recent debate article “Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models,” Saltman and Duran reflect groundbreaking processes in reforming tax-based health and their complexity in two European countries.[1]
Freedom of enlisting encourages citizens to choose their primary health center, among public and private providers, and freedom of establishment makes it possible for private for-profit actors to establish primary care centers and compete for patients.[2]. It means that primary care centers no longer have a guaranteed population to serve, based on catchment areas, but should work on access and responsiveness to attract and maintain enlisted patients[2] as well as work on their own management of high quality. The purpose of this commentary is to contribute to the discussion of new provider models and practice in primary care by further uncovering embedded complexity and how it can be studied
Primary care centers are well-equipped to provide a large range of services, many of which are directly referred to specialized care in other systems
Summary
In a recent debate article “Governance, Government, and the Search for New Provider Models,” Saltman and Duran reflect groundbreaking processes in reforming tax-based health and their complexity in two European countries.[1].
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