| Abstract [eng] |
The main purpose of health system reform, according to the healthcare reorganization strategy, is the improvement of citizens’ health, which can be achieved by increasing the effectiveness of healthcare system, satisfying the needs of patients, justly allocating limited resources and ensuring justice and equality of services. The effectiveness of healthcare institutions’ reorganization is examined and evaluated by the Ministry of Health in its annual reports, State audit, and in the reports of reorganization analysis. Healthcare experts use the mentioned documents to suggest the direction of further reforms. The relation between main population health indicators and the results of healthcare system reorganization still remains among one of the least researched topics. Therefore it is important after the analysis of healthcare reform results to evaluate the main population health indicators. This Master’s Thesis raises the problem: what influence the reorganization of healthcare system has on the health of the citizens. The research object is the reorganization of the healthcare institutions. The aim of the research is to evaluate the influence of the healthcare institutions’ reorganization for the citizens by analysing the results of mentioned reorganizations. Objectives of the research: review theoretical aspects of healthcare system reform; description of the reforms of healthcare systems and evaluation of the results of structural reforms of healthcare providers and its influence on patients’ health. The thesis is made of three main parts. In the first part the theoretical aspects of the healthcare reform are analysed, the second part covers the aims of the reorganization of healthcare institutions, directions and criteria of evaluation; the third part evaluates the results of healthcare institutions reorganization and health indicators of the residents. The following research methods were used in this Thesis: analysis of scientific literature, laws, statistics, comparative method and generalization. For the research the following indicators of citizens’ health were used: the average life duration, general mortality, infant mortality, self-evaluation of the health and preventable mortality. The following indicators of the effectiveness of the healthcare institutions’ reorganization were used: the number of family doctors, hospital beds and bed occupancy rate. The research of the reorganization of healthcare system showed that, during the reorganization the skills of family physician improved, a new motivating services were implemented, the general expenses of the healthcare system was reduced, new service quality standards were implemented, outpatient and day hospital volume of healthcare services increased, the quality of service improved. The dynamics of Lithuanian health indicators revealed that the effectiveness of healthcare system reorganization was not aimed at the overall health improvement of Lithuanian citizens. Further effort to improve the effectiveness of healthcare system, health indicators, availability of services is necessary. |
