Summary
Health care system sustainability and the contribution of emergency departments
Urbanos-Garrido RM, López-Valcárcel BG
Affiliation of the authors
Departamento de Economía Aplicada VI, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. Departamento de Métodos Cuantitativos en Economía y Gestión. Universidad de Las Palmas de GC, Spain.
DOI
Quote
Urbanos-Garrido RM, López-Valcárcel BG. Health care system sustainability and the contribution of emergency departments. Emergencias. 2015;27:197-
Summary
The purpose of this paper is to describe the main proposals for ensuring national health service sustainability, in the light of a review of the most relevant diagnostic reports and guidelines published since the onset of the economic crisis. The following proposals are among the most frequently mentioned in the literature: selective financing of technology, reorganization to provide more care for chronic conditions and better coordination between levels of care and the network of social and health care services, and the reinforcement of primary care. Also commonly suggested is the reform of health care governance. Likewise, the authors briefly examine the measures adopted to date to promote the system’s sustainability and discuss how the emergency department can further this aim.