tThe Italian National Health Service (I-NHS) was established in 1978 to guarantee universal access tohealthcare. Prominent in international reports, the I-NHS has reached a satisfactory level of efficiencyand excellent standards of care in many regions, in forty years. Along the years, I-NHS has developed astructural public-private partnership in health services delivery that in some regions contributes to theachievement of very high standards of healthcare quality. However, the I-NHS is currently facing somemajor challenges: (a) Italy is experiencing a remarkable aging of its population with increasing healthneeds; (b) the recent and constant cuts to public expenditures are reducing the budget for welfare. It is ofutmost importance to ensure that on-going efforts to contain health system costs do not subsume healthcare quality. In addition, monitoring of the essential levels of care (Livelli Essenziali di Assistenza, LEA)highlights significant differences in healthcare delivery among Italian regions that, in turns, contributeto the burdensome migration of patients to best-performing regions. Therefore, a more consolidated andambitious approach to quality monitoring and healthcare improvement at a system level is needed toguarantee its sustainability in the future.
Universal Health Coverage in Italy: lights and shades of the Italian National Health Service which celebrated its 40th anniversary / Signorelli, C.; Odone, A.; Oradini-Alacreu, A.; Pelissero, G.. - In: HEALTH POLICY. - ISSN 0168-8510. - 124:1(2020), pp. 69-74. [10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.11.002]
Universal Health Coverage in Italy: lights and shades of the Italian National Health Service which celebrated its 40th anniversary
Signorelli, C.
;Odone, A.;
2020-01-01
Abstract
tThe Italian National Health Service (I-NHS) was established in 1978 to guarantee universal access tohealthcare. Prominent in international reports, the I-NHS has reached a satisfactory level of efficiencyand excellent standards of care in many regions, in forty years. Along the years, I-NHS has developed astructural public-private partnership in health services delivery that in some regions contributes to theachievement of very high standards of healthcare quality. However, the I-NHS is currently facing somemajor challenges: (a) Italy is experiencing a remarkable aging of its population with increasing healthneeds; (b) the recent and constant cuts to public expenditures are reducing the budget for welfare. It is ofutmost importance to ensure that on-going efforts to contain health system costs do not subsume healthcare quality. In addition, monitoring of the essential levels of care (Livelli Essenziali di Assistenza, LEA)highlights significant differences in healthcare delivery among Italian regions that, in turns, contributeto the burdensome migration of patients to best-performing regions. Therefore, a more consolidated andambitious approach to quality monitoring and healthcare improvement at a system level is needed toguarantee its sustainability in the future.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
