QCOSTARICA – The Costa Rican health system requires greater articulation between different actors to face a series of challenges related to its sustainability and the quality of patient care, revealed the report “Retos y Propuestas para el Sistema Nacional de Salud” (Challenges and Proposals for the National Health System).
The report, prepared by the Central American Academy, the Costa Rican Chamber of Health, the Health 2030 Movement and the Copenhagen Institute For Future Studies, was presented this week to representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), associations of patients and the private sector.
“Our health system requires analysis that contributes to the goal of delaying, as much as possible, that people become patients. That is why this document, which is prepared and promoted by various actors in the health system, aims to expose the challenges of the Costa Rican system and at the same time propose a set of solutions to the main challenges it currently faces,” said the author of the document and member of the Academy of Central America, Edgar Robles.
The researcher stated that “the institutional health system is very strong, but it cannot do everything alone.”
To strengthen the Costa Rican national health system, the report considers prevention as the cornerstone and proposes moving towards a more personalized model that involves public and private actors
“Although the traditional Costa Rican model is based on providing generalized care from prevention to treatment, it is necessary to move towards a new, more personalized health model that allows improving the quality, equity and sustainability of the system; For this, greater public-private articulation is important, since this synergy constitutes a valuable element to streamline health management, ”indicates the document.
Among the recommendations of the study, the one to redesign the rectory of the Ministry of Health stands out so that this entity has the power to generate public-private alliances within the sector; and to promote a more productive and innovative human resource, as well as greater innovation in the services it provides.
Other recommendations are to strengthen both public and private health services, reorganize secondary and tertiary primary care focused on prevention, and reduce patient waiting lists by applying cost and efficiency analyses.
The report also proposes increasing the use of technologies as a means of access to health and promoting biomedical research and innovation to offer society better health options.
The document highlights the importance of collaborative actions between the actors of the health system that ensure universality as a central axis and that lead to innovation in aspects such as data governance, health literacy, digital literacy and training; the strengthening of the health economy, and regional and international collaboration, for the exchange of good practices and knowledge.
According to the authors, the document is a starting point for the creation of a common agenda that includes objectives, initiatives, deadlines and shared responsibilities between all parts of the health system.
“The X-ray of the Costa Rican health system and the possible approaches to strengthen it, have to lead us to reflect on the urgency with which we must articulate priorities with the correct actors and adequately prepare ourselves to implement comprehensive strategies and solutions,” said the representative of the Health Movement 2030 in Costa Rica, Álvaro Soto.
Sources: EFE; Revista Summa
