Entrepreneurs suggest these six ways to enhance health services

Business representatives propose creating a public-private alliance to implement joint management of surgical waiting lists, consultation with specialists and diagnostic procedures, as part of a set of six strategies aimed at strengthening Costa Rica’s health system.

Informally, this set of proposals is known as white book, But formally it is called study Challenges and proposals for the national health system.

It was presented in 2022 as part of the collaborative work of the Costa Rican Chamber of Health, the Central American Academy, the Health 2030 Movement, and the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.

Efrain Monge Quesada, head of the Costa Rica Chamber of Health, provided a summary of the report White book At the Health Forum 2023 organized by Nation In alliance with the pharmaceutical company Roche, on July 31.

The Forum was sponsored by the Central American and Caribbean Federation of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Fedefarma), Hospital Clínica Bíblica, Hospital La Católica and Laboratorios Labin.

According to Mong Quesada, it is the most relevant initiative White book It is about managing waiting lists that patients experience and challenges the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS).

“We are one health system. Regardless of whether it is public or private, we have to attack the waiting lists. It is necessary that we organize ourselves better to be effective and respond to all these needs. Waiting lists will not end, but we have to shorten the time and make available More access for patients.

On August 11, the Chamber repeated its presentation to the CCSS to address the issue Specific projects in the disciplines with the most critical times; Among them are orthopedics and ophthalmology.

Five days later, after consultation Nation, Caja CEO Marta Eugenia Esquivel Rodríguez said no proposal could be ruled out: “They are all important and they are all integrated. The private sector is indispensable, but we must do everything systematically, slowly and with good writing.

The waiting lists never stop growing. On August 16, it was revealed that 176,919 people are waiting for surgery. In addition, there are 285,457 pending first-time physician appointments, and 622,018 diagnostic procedures have not been performed.

The other five proposals

These are the other five proposals for White book:

Health promotion in Costa Rica. It is recommended to research how certification models are created to understand best practices at a global level.

This is also the case with the people who recommended the organization for the Cooperation and Desarrollo Economics (OCDE): the organization of the Calidad Observatory and the Salud Minister allowed access to the salud practices. Costa Rica.

Directorate of the Ministry of Health. It goes beyond the public sector and includes the private sector with urgent guidance on the development path in which, according to Efrain Monge, some efforts have been made “but a bit timid”.

He said that the Chamber cooperated in preparing a roadmap for digital health that aims to benefit from it and organize it within various initiatives, especially by enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors. The patient here is the owner of the information.

He stressed: “We must continue to make efforts to empower the patient so that he can travel with information in the various services in which he is treated, whether public or private.”

Digitization. Beyond telemedicine or providing remote health care, Costa Rica must use technology to obtain databases containing patient information in a timely manner.

To what extent has this proposal escalated? Not all that is needed. “It’s like proselytizing,” Monge replied, recognizing that one advantage is the openness of all sectors.

Biomedical research. Currently, this issue is progressing more at the private level than at the public level. “We do not yet understand that this is a source of early access to treatment for patients, and ultimately could be an important economic resource for CCSS,” he emphasized.

Read more: Read the white paper here

Reorganization of primary, secondary and tertiary care. Businessmen cite as an example the success of cooperatives in serving ibis. It also encourages the establishment of more specialized hospitals.

“It is proposed to establish an ophthalmology clinic and a women’s hospital. And to continue work in oncology and cardiology care. “There are great opportunities to work on reorganizing the health system, more suited to the new needs of the world.”

Driving is required

Ricardo Monge, President of the Central American Academy, noted that White book This arose out of concern about the lack of dialogue to promote the importance of public-private partnerships.

“A year ago, before the elections, we invited the former presidential candidates and the current President of the Republic (Rodrigo Chavez Robles) to tell them the idea of ​​the presidential elections. White book. We gave them some ideas and asked them about their concerns. The issues were accepted as crucial.

“I think the important thing now is that we put together this roadmap and a working group, hopefully led from the highest level of public policy, to start moving forward. The time for diagnosis has passed, and there is a lot on the table. Now, what is worthwhile is moving to a time “Working, saying how we are going to get there.”

For Monge, research and innovation in health is essential. He noted that Costa Rica has one of center Life sciences in terms of foreign direct investment and the most developed national companies in the region.

“We have had a collective development policy of two governments, currently supported by Cinde (Costa Rican Alliance for Development Initiatives) and Comex (Ministry of Foreign Trade), and it is a golden opportunity to become center health care around the world,” he said.

The President of the Central American Academy indicated that a working group had been formed for Intel’s arrival (military unit). We demonstrated on that occasion that we are capable of sitting down, with everything and with our differences, to work and develop a road map, implement policies and achieve great things.

“This is what we need to do now: we need to convince the authorities of our country to create this working group (Military unit), that we need this commitment as a country, and that all actors, public, private and academic, are on board. But there must be real leadership so that the group can work and deliver important solutions and results.

In his opinion, that leadership must come from the presidential house. Efrain Monge, from the Costa Rica Chamber of Health, agreed.

“These are all dreams but the possibilities are there. There are examples of success such as when the group policy was created. We are working on several initiatives to be able to make this leap so that the health sector has that contribution not only as a service provider but as a wealth generator at the national level,” the chamber spokesperson said. “.