Health Systems Governance

Full course description

This unit is an advanced introduction in health systems governance, with a focus on modern healthcare reform. Over the last two decades, many European countries launched reform programs to reconstruct the governance of their health systems. These programs are intended to achieve a fundamental restructuring of the roles, relationships and accountabilities of the state (national, regional, local), corporate actors, independent regulatory agencies, providers and insurers and, last but not least, citizens. The objectives of these reforms are often described in terms of centralization, decentralization, privatization, liberalization (marketization), the shift away from a supply-driven type of system towards a demand-driven type of system, the transition from a planning or bureaucratic state to a regulatory or managerial state, the conversion from a hierarchical mode of governance into a network type of governance, and so forth.  Students will not only be made familiar with these reforms and their consequences (both intended and unintended), but also with the impact of the political and institutional context on these reforms. Furthermore, the course addresses a number of ethical principles guiding health systems governance, with a focus upon the problem of distributive justice. In this respect, special attention is given to the reconstruction of the values of solidarity and individual responsibility. 

During the skills training, you will write a policy analysis as a member of a study team according to a step-by-step approach. For this, your team will select (or be provided with) a major current policy problem.