4. Purchasing tasks of the NHSO and its branches
The NHSO and its branches are the formal purchasers in the UC system; they take
responsibility to search the health system for affordable good quality services for their
beneficiaries. Purchasing health care is not similar to purchasing other goods: health services
are merit goods aimed at improving people's health and quality of life. So the tasks involved
in purchasing health care are quite specific to health care. As described by Øveretveit (1996),
these tasks include:
• Technical assessment of the health needs of the population and ensuring that the silent
citizens’ needs are recognized and included
• Seeking citizens’ and providers’ views about priority health services according to
health needs
• Formulating health aims and strategies including the roles of other agencies in
achieving aims
• Formulating local health priorities within national policies and targets
• Planning to purchase health services to meet priority needs
• Influencing health care providers to plan and establish services so that the services are
there to be purchased
• Coordinating and contracting with other purchasing and various health care providing
agencies
• Contract management such as negotiating and monitoring contracts to reflect the
purchasing plan, and organising payments
• Evaluating the impact on health and cost-effectiveness of purchased services and other
activities, and
• Support work to the above work.
All the tasks identified above are important f