Health system responsiveness
Responsiveness to people’s expectations is one of the three intrinsic goals of health
systems. The concept of responsiveness includes the extent to which individuals are
treated with dignity, autonomy and confidentiality; it also includes receiving prompt
attention, the quality of basic amenities, access to social support networks during care
and choice of care provider (24). A patient-oriented approach to the assessment of responsiveness
is the measurement of satisfaction, based on the assumption that the elements
of responsiveness relate to the individual needs of patients and of all inhabitants.
User satisfaction with health services, while subjective by nature, provides information
about how well the health system responds to the expectations of the population.
Ideally, indicators of responsiveness would focus on measuring perceptions of the dimensions
listed above. However, aside from the 1997 survey on health system responsiveness
used for The world health report 2000 (24), most comparable international surveys do not
systematically address these concepts but instead focus on overall impressions of satis-faction/dissatisfaction with aspects of the health care
system.
Although components of health system responsiveness
as defined by WHO are not regularly tracked and
monitored, rates of overall satisfaction with the health
care system in Portugal (as expressed in surveys) are
among the lowest in the EU 15. The Portuguese also
expressed low levels of satisfaction relative to EU
Member States for specific aspects of affordability,
availability and quality of certain services.
Clearly, satisfaction with the health system and
perceived responsiveness depend on many aspects of
service delivery, such as access to services (considering
financial and other barriers), waiting times, perceived
technical quality of care received, and the way individuals
are treated by providers of care. Policies related to
the delivery and financing of health services are critical
to addressing responsiveness and satisfaction. Areas of
relatively low satisfaction, such as affordability, availability
and access, were indeed identified.
To more fully understand expectations of responsiveness,
there should ideally be surveys directed
towards the defined components, and also broken down
for specific health care service providers, for example,
primary care, hospitals, long-term care and specialists.
This information would help in determining priorities
for policies and actions and would enable tracking to
determine whether policies were having the intended
impact. Understanding and addressing perceptions
of responsiveness from an equity perspective is also
desirable. The health system should be responsive to
all citizens, without regard for social circumstances.
The creation of Local Health Councils is a good opportunity
to look for a broader and more effective engagement
of citizens and stakeholders at local level.
Access to health services
A health system that delivers high-quality and
safe health services that can be accessed without
barriers promotes responsiveness. Access to quality
health care services is also critical for achieving
improved health. Barriers to access to health care
services may take different forms: limited supply of
services, including limitations related to regional or
geographical areas and opening times, excessive cost
or unaffordability of services, and lack of information
about available services or how to obtain them.
These barriers can be expressed and are often seen as
lengthy waiting times for services, and unexpected
or unplanned variability in patterns of utilization. For
example, cost barriers to primary care services or a
limited supply of primary care providers might drive
individuals to relative higher use of hospital emergency
departments.
International studies show that the strength of
a country’s primary care system is associated withimproved population health outcomes for all-cause
mortality, all-cause premature mortality, cause-specific
premature mortality from major respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases, higher patient satisfaction,
and reduced aggregate health care spending (38).
If primary care services are not easily accessible, if
there are barriers or if quality is perceived to be low,
individuals may instead use emergency departments
or other secondary care services directly (39). The
ratio of emergency department visits to outpatient
visits has fallen over the past few years, suggesting
improved accessibility of primary care services. Nevertheless,
the total number of emergency department
visits has also remained almost unchanged over the
same period.
At the same time, although the percentage of
those over age 65 receiving influenza vaccination has
increased, the rate remains low in relation to the EU 15
countries. The rate of just over 50% for Portugal in 2007
compares poorly with rates of around 70% for France,
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The lower
rate for Portugal may indicate that barriers to access –
whether financial or informational – exist for this basic
recommended service and should be addressed, perhaps
through emphasizing the role of primary care in
providing this service.
The degree to which waiting times are decreasing
(or increasing) provides information about whether
capacity is sufficient (or insufficient) to meet current
needs. The percentage of surgical interventions
completed within defined target waiting time has
increased following the establishment in 2005 of policies
and programmes to manage and report on surgical
waiting times (37).
Although there are signs that access to services has
been improving based on available performance indicators,
the results of surveys on the responsiveness of
the health system indicate that affordability and availability
of services is a concern. To develop policies to
address access and health system responsiveness, it is
critical to understand the roots of observed problems
with access. Limited access due to an inadequate supply
of services could be related to poor planning for
capacity or inadequate reimbursement for services. The
interaction of demand with supply is also of concern –
service capacity may be adequate for appropriate (clinically
determined) demand but inappropriate excess
demand could lead to lengthy waiting times.