Intervening in the public private mix

Abstract

Managing the public/private mix is likely to be a central element of every government’s health policy and management functions. It is, however, a difficult task. It requires, in part, careful thought about the most appropriate instruments of regulation in a particular context and for a particular action and goal (Bennett et al., 1997). Equally important, however, is the need to think through the strategies that can be used in developing and implementing those instruments. As has been recognized more broadly, much health policy “has been simply concerned with the technical features of policy content, rather than with the processes of putting policy into effect. As a result policy changes have often been implemented ineffectively and expected policy outcomes have not been achieved” (Walt & Gilson, 1994:366).

Citation

In: Soderlund N, Mendoza-Arana P, Goudge J (eds.), The new public/private mix in health: exploring the changing landscape. Geneva, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, pp 1-12.

Intervening in the public private mix

Published 12 September 2006