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Integrated health service delivery networks: concepts, policy options and a road map for implementation in the Americas

Publication typeScientific publication
SOURCE: Pan American Health Organization

Integrated health service delivery networks: concepts, policy options and a road map for implementation in the Americas

Health systems in the Americas are characterized by highly fragmented health services. Experience to date demonstrates that excessive fragmentation leads to difficulties in access to services, delivery of services of poor technical quality, irrational and inefficient use of available resources, unnecessary increases in production costs, and low user satisfaction with services received. (…) The region is home to several good practices in the creation of Integrated Health Service Delivery Networks (IHSDNs), especially in countries like Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica and Cuba, which have traditionally supported the development of networks. Other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are adopting similar policies to organize their health services. Despite these efforts, addressing fragmentation and providing more equitable, comprehensive, integrated, and continuous health services remain significant challenges for the majority of countries in the Americas.

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