Tim Tenbensel – författare

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical transformations in the organisationand delivery of health and care services across the world. In many countries,policy makers have rushed to re-organise care services to meet the surge demandof COVID-19, from re-purposing existing services to creating new ‘field’ hospitals.Such strategies signal important and sweeping changes in the organisation ofboth ‘COVID’ and ‘non-COVID’ care, whilst asking more fundamental questionsabout the long-term organisation of care ‘after COVID’. In some contexts, thepandemic has exposed the fragilities and vulnerabilities of care systems, whilstin others, it has shown how services are organised to be more resilient andadaptive to unanticipated pressures. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to examine empirically andto develop new theoretical frameworks on how and why health systems adapttosuch unusual and intense pressures. International contributors consider howresponses to COVID-19 are transforming the organisation and governance ofhealth and care services and explore questions around strategic leadership atlocal, regional, national and transnational level. The book offers unique insightand analysis on the dynamics of policy-making, the organisation and governanceof care organisations, the role of technologies in governing, the changing role ofprofessionals and the possibilities for more resilient care systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical transformations in the organisationand delivery of health and care services across the world. In many countries,policy makers have rushed to re-organise care services to meet the surge demandof COVID-19, from re-purposing existing services to creating new ‘field’ hospitals.Such strategies signal important and sweeping changes in the organisation ofboth ‘COVID’ and ‘non-COVID’ care, whilst asking more fundamental questionsabout the long-term organisation of care ‘after COVID’. In some contexts, thepandemic has exposed the fragilities and vulnerabilities of care systems, whilstin others, it has shown how services are organised to be more resilient andadaptive to unanticipated pressures. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to examine empirically andto develop new theoretical frameworks on how and why health systems adapttosuch unusual and intense pressures. International contributors consider howresponses to COVID-19 are transforming the organisation and governance ofhealth and care services and explore questions around strategic leadership atlocal, regional, national and transnational level. The book offers unique insightand analysis on the dynamics of policy-making, the organisation and governanceof care organisations, the role of technologies in governing, the changing role ofprofessionals and the possibilities for more resilient care systems.

This book presents the health reform experiences over the past three decades of twelve small and medium-sized nations that are not often included in international comparative studies in this field. The major conclusion of the study is that despite many similarities in policy goals, policy challenges and in the menu of policy options for countries that seek to offer universal coverage to their population, the health reforms of the nations in this book did not converge into one direction or model. However, we found several widespread policy experiences that are relevant for others, too.For example, user fees are unpopular everywhere. Governments often try to soften the consequences by exempting large groups of users, thus largely defeating the very purpose of those fees.As a second example, the introduction of new payment modes for medical care — like the shift from fee for service to case-based payment — took much longer than originally expected everywhere, and also failed to deliver their promises of improved transparency or efficiency gains A third example is that proposals are for universal coverage often ignore the challenges of implementing new financing models that elsewhere took decades if not centuries to develop.The conclusions contain both empirical findings and theoretical conclusions of interest to policy-makers and scholars of international comparison. It is accessible for academics, healthcare managers and students as well as a wider audience of readers interested in the changes in healthcare across the world.