Abstract
This chapter outlines two approaches by which the healthcare systems of two or more countries can be compared. Healthcare systems can be evaluated along a variety of metrics, and recommendations are given for reliable sources of data. The first method of comparing healthcare systems uses the World Health Organization’s six building blocks: service delivery, health workforce, health information, medical technology, health financing, and leadership and governance. The second employs a systems theory approach emphasizing, in addition to inputs, processes, and outputs, the environment or context in which a healthcare system functions. This includes the history, culture, and politics of the country that shape and inform its healthcare policies and systems. Finally, Germany, Bangladesh, and Mexico are compared to illustrate the ways that healthcare statistics, for example, the number of physicians per person and childhood vaccination rates, can be used to meaningfully understand healthcare systems, their contexts, and how they may help or hinder health and well-being among citizens.
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Stoskopf, C.H., Venn, M.A. (2021). Comparative Health Systems Analysis and Evaluation. In: Haring, R., Kickbusch, I., Ganten, D., Moeti, M. (eds) Handbook of Global Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05325-3_61-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05325-3_61-1
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