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Biomedical subjects

C von Otter

Publications and source records attributed to C von Otter.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Reforming Swedish health care in the 1990s: the emerging role of 'public firms'.

A growing number of Swedish county councils have started to develop more flexible methods by which to produce and deliver health services. This paper explores the current status of this reform process both empirically and conceptually. Empirically, it draws upon data obtained by a 1990 questionnaire from all 26 county councils to chart the level of movement across the entire system. Conceptually, it distills from this reform activity a key element that provides an organizational basis for the future, namely the transformation of provider institutions into 'public firms'. The paper concludes that while the precise outcome may be hard to predict, the reform process itself is well underway.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1991

Towards a Swedish health policy for the 1990s: planned markets and public firms.

The Swedish health system has entered a period of major structural transformation. Most county councils have begun to experiment with new service delivery mechanisms, and the governing Social Democratic Party has proposed wide-ranging reforms intended to improve the efficiency, quality, and responsiveness of all public human services. This paper draws upon key elements in the current Swedish debate to develop an alternative policy model for publicly operated health systems in general. We argue that the limitations of existing planning and market based policy models can be overcome by an approach constructed upon 'planned markets'. This alternative model involves restructuring publicly operated systems into an intentionally designed network of 'public firms' that engage in a socially as well as economically efficient process of 'public competition'. The model harnesses patient choice of provider as the driving mechanism to enhance both production efficiency and democratic participation within the Swedish health system.

Economic Competition↗
PubMed1989

Public competition versus mixed markets: an analytic comparison.

Issues of internal organizational efficiency and effectiveness continue to dominate debate within health care systems in Northern Europe. This article focuses on political as well as economic aspects of two recent proposals for 'strategic reform' in tax-based publicly operated health systems: public competition and mixed markets. The theoretical underpinning of each model is examined, and the likely impact upon long-term health system development is compared.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed1987

Re-vitalizing public health care systems: a proposal for public competition in Sweden.

This article examines the health policy opportunities presented by building market-style incentives into the structure of a national public health system. The goal is to develop a service delivery model which can achieve simultaneously high levels of patient service, economic efficiency and social responsibility. The article develops its "public competition" approach implicitly, through a detailed case study of the Swedish health care system. The broad theory appears to hold promise for a variety of existing and emerging national public health systems in Europe.

Economic Competition↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Implementing public competition in Swedish county councils: a case study.

Earlier presentations of the theoretical framework for public competition (Saltman and von Otter, 1987) and of the comparative advantage of public competition as against a mixed market model (Saltman and von Otter, 1989a) suggest the importance of concrete arrangements to introduce a public competition approach at the operating level. This paper explores the administrative infra-structure required to implement public competition within the Swedish county-council-based health care system.

Budgets↗