18
there are barriers to reforming our healthcare
system but we can overcome them…
STRATEGIC
OPERATIONAL
PEOPLE
FINANCIAL
Barriers
>
Lack of unity between the
private and public sector
>
Inadequate healthcare
education
>
Poor intersectoral
communication
>
Disconnect between
corporates, public and private
sectors
>
Lack of empowered citizens
and ownership of personal
and societal healthcare issues
>
Inadequate regulation of
herbal/alternative health
products
>
Insufficient designated
hospitals and clinics to
provide care for childhood
development issues
>
Inadequate health outcomes
reporting
>
No national health
information exchange
>
Poor implementation of
healthcare policy
>
Inadequate leadership,
governance and management
structures
>
Inadequate control
mechanisms to prevent
healthcare workers from
‘stealing’ time from their
work in the public sector to
operate private practices in
the private sector
>
Poor monitoring and
evaluation of programs –
results are not shared
publically
>
Corruption in supply chain
management
>
Scarcity of healthcare human
resources
>
Poor public perception about
national healthcare services
>
Lack of personal touch and
professional standards
>
Lack of cultural sensitivity
>
Self-interest groups who
have thrived on the lack of
transparency in the system
and want to protect their turf
and ensure their future profits
>
Attitude of helplessness
>
Persistent stigma and
discrimination attached to
HIV/AIDS
>
Social degeneration and
apathy
>
Unsustainably high costs
>
Escalating medical premiums
>
Financial expectations of
healthcare professionals
>
High costs of pharmaceutical
products –no local women-
owned manufacturers
>
Increasing cost of medical
litigation
>
Layers and layers of
organizational costs which
strip financial resources from
actual service delivery
>
Poor financial management in
the public sector
>
Opaque cost structures in the
private sector
>
True public-private
partnerships
>
Local media such as the
Radio –drive Health
knowledge sharing
>
Incentives to promote
wellness at a community
level
>
Health education becomes
part of the curriculum at
school
>
Medical Aids function as
patient advocates for high
quality, cost-effective care
>
Non-dependent members
allowed to join medical aid
schemes under the principal
member
>
Free electronic healthcare
records
>
Regulate alternative
medicines industry
>
Healthcare workers arranged
into operational teams in both
the private and public sector
>
Business management skills
taught to hospital managers
>
Medical information is
collected in a single national
platform
>
Focus on the big 5 common
conditions –HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis, Diabetes,
Hypertension and Heart
Disease
>
Reduce medical errors by
implementing standardized
operating procedures and
utilizing simple tools like
check-lists and early
detection warning systems
>
Electronic prescription
systems
>
Medical Aids become
strategic purchasers to derive
economies of scale, scope
and skill in the system
>
Provide financial incentives to
employees to be healthy
>
Bring healthcare into the
retail space for delivery of
primary care services and
chronic medications
>
Measure healthcare
outcomes for each provider,
make these metrics public
and use them to pay for
performance
>
Incentives for local
manufacturing and
distribution of affordable
medicines
>
Culture of self-care amongst
the population
>
Skill sharing amongst
healthcare workers
>
Incentives built into the public
healthcare system to
motivate healthcare workers
to deliver the best possible
patient-centric care
>
Penalties imposed for poor
performance amongst
healthcare providers
>
Encourage innovation and
exploration in the health
sciences
>
Acknowledge outstanding
performance amongst
providers
Enablers