THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN ITALY, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN ITALY e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN ITALY The Italian health system was ranked second best in the world by the World Health Organisation in 2000, with only the French system ranked higher. The Ministry of Health is responsible for the administration of the Health Service, but much of the control has been passed to the different Regions and onto the local health authorities known as ASL. The Italian national healthcare service (SSN, Servizio Sanitario Nazionale) was created in 1978 to replace a previous system based on a multitude of insurance schemes. The SSN was inspired by the British National Health Service and has two fundamental principles. Firstly, each Italian citizen and foreign resident has the right to healthcare and, secondly, the system covers all necessary treatments. The SSN has encountered a number of financial problems since the beginning. Firstly, there was very little coordination of healthcare services at a national level. More importantly, there was dissociation in financial control. There have been a number of reforms to the SSN since the early 90s. Competition has been increased by allowing citizens to choose their healthcare provider. Payments have been regularised using a Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) system and a small amount of co-payment has been introduced. Later reforms were aimed at increasing planning at the regional level and increasing efficiency of all managers within the SSN. The second problem is the ageing population. A better environment and improved medical techniques have resulted in people living longer. This is combined with a low birthrate, which is well below the level needed to maintain the current population. The ageing population will require new facilities to deal with the physical and mental diseases associated with old age as well as an increase in nursing homes to deal with end of life care.