The Organisation & Focus of the Health System in New Zealand, the United Kingom, and the United States

The Organisation & Focus of the Health System in NZ, UK& US

Health care systems around the world are diverse in the organisation and focus of their health systems. In this essay, the organisation and focus of New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States will be compared. Considered will be their different levels of care, the way patients move through these levels and the successfulness of each system at being a quality health care system for their population.

Health systems consist of three main health care levels; primary, secondary and tertiary. Each corresponds to levels of care for patients. Primary Health Care is the first level; being the first point of contact, and the suggested entry point into the health care system. It is based in a community setting and referred to as ambulatory care (French, Old & Healy, 2001). It’s of the lowest cost and includes providers such as general practitioners (GP’s), nurses and midwives etc. Patients are usually referred back to their GP’s for ongoing care after secondary/tertiary level of care (Bodenheimer & Grumback, 2009). The next level is Secondary. As primary, secondary can also be provided in the community by specialists, as well as hospitals E.G Paediatrics, Gynaecology and General Surgery. Specialists’ care makes secondary care medium to high cost. Secondary care is accessible via GP and other primary care providers’ referrals however other systems allow patients to self refer (Bodenheimer & Grumback, 2009).

Tertiary care providers are specialists who are available only at major hospitals and they require precise resources to perform complex procedures such as organ transplants E.g Cardiologists, Auckland Hospital (Bodenheimer & Grumback, 2009). Due to this, they are the ...

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