Comparative Health System in Italy: An Analysis of the Healthcare System and Reforms

Running head: COMPARATIVE HEALTH SYSTEM 1
Comparative Health System
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

COMPARATIVE HEALTH SYSTEM 2
Introduction and Background
Italy, the largest country in Europe, is listed among the countries that provide the best
quality health services by the World Health Organization. The Italian National Health Service
referred to as Servicio Sanitario Nazionale was started in the year 1978 with human dignity,
universal coverage, and solidarity as the golden rules. The health plan ensures that health
services are affordable or free inclusive of hospital visits, medication, lab work, and
consultations. The health care system is divided into three levels that is the national, regional and
local levels. The role of the national level is to ensure the achievement of the general objectives
and key principles of the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. Regional governments via their regional
health departments play the role of ensuring that all the 16 health systems in the country receive
healthcare services via a network of local health authorities and both private and public
accredited hospitals.
Majority of the people living in the area have a high quality of life and standard of living
as a result of standard welfare measures and policies. Although some healthcare facilities are
considered useful in dealing with emergencies, some medical facilities are allegedly
overcrowded and lack adequate funds (Mackenbach, Karanikolos and McKee 2013, pp.1125-
1134). This essay seeks to explain the healthcare system of Italy using the World Health
Organization healthcare systems framework. It also aims at evaluating the performance of the
health system including both the past and current reforms using the available peer-reviewed
articles.

COMPARATIVE HEALTH SYSTEM 3
Inclusion of examples
Italy's Organizational and structure is well organized and aims at providing universal
health care coverage at the point of delivery. Every region has the duty of providing health care
services to the patients. This means that the regions differ regarding the level of healthcare
provided. Although no law has specified patient rights and empowerment, they are present in the
Italian constitution as well as some pieces of legislationatic strategy (Nuti, Vola, Bonini, and
Vainieri 2016, pp.17-38).
Secondly, the health care system is mainly funded using both regional and national taxes
and co-payments from outpatient and pharmaceutical care. The role of government as outlined in
the Italian constitution is to decide the national statutory benefits package to be given to all the
people is all the regions. It is the responsibility of the two independent provinces and 19 regions
to plan and deliver health care services through the local health units. Majority of the regions
lack sufficient funds to run their day to day activities. This has a negative influence on the health
of the people often leading to increased mortality and morbidity rates. Increased economic crisis
and corruption has led to the mismanagement of funds and hence disrupting services (De Belvis
et al. 2012, pp.10-16).
Thirdly the healthcare system medical technologies and products have decreased over the
years due to cost-cutting measure that is taking place in the country. Regarding the infrastructure
in the hospital sector, in the year 2012, Italy had an estimated 3.4 hospitals per 1000 patients;
80% of which are set aside for patients in acute care. The number of CT scanners, MRI units,
and PET units have increased, the government has also developed e-health initiatives. There is a
great need of purchasing new medical products and technology that will help in the delivery of

COMPARATIVE HEALTH SYSTEM 4
healthcare. Present development should be keen on expanding electronic health records and
online services. As a result, there has been digitalization of medical certificates and prescriptions
(Marchildon 2013).
Fourthly, although there has been an increase in the health workforce, with an estimated
3.7 practising doctors per 1000 patients, there is need to grow the healthcare workforce to meet
the needs of the community. In the year 2010, SSN employed an overall 646 236 healthcare
personnel. 18.1% were technical staff, 70.2% were health staff, and 11.7% were administrative
staff. Among the employed health staff. 58.3% were nurses, 23.7% were physicians and the rest
18% were other health professionals (Marchildon 2013).
Fifthly, regarding service delivery, the ministry of health' responsibility is to ensure that
public health services are delivered at the national level. Programs such as screening and
immunization are prioritized. Also, pap tests, immunization programs, colorectal screening, and
mammography are offered nationally to the target population at free of charge. However, there is
a need to sensitize more people to utilise the services (Bordogna 2011, pp.411-423). Lastly,
concerning information and research, the country has failed to increase the use of communication
and information technologies in research to ensure that there is the provision of quality care.