Abstract
This poster demonstrates the results of a case study focused on comparing the health care systems of the two nations. The primary objective of the analysis is to ascertain which system shows better functionality via researching the goals that the governments are pursuing regarding improving health care services. The study allows stating that the health care system that functions in the UAE performs better which is indicated by the number of various goals achieved across the decade.
Introduction
Health care systems may vary significantly across the globe. While some systems require a large amount of attention and adjustment, others prove that their functionality is steadily increasing since they were established. One of the most successful modern health care systems is that of the United Arab Emirates. Attention towards keeping health care standards on a high level is one of the most distinctive traits the health care system in the UAE demonstrates.
The government of the UAE is also concerned about providing health care institutions with significant amounts of expenditures. Along with other characteristics, it is noted that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are amongst the top three places that foreign visitors chose to receive medical attention. The purpose of this case study is to analyze the aspects of financing and service delivery in the health care systems of the UAE and the United Kingdom.
Methods
The resources examined in this study are the UAE health care sector report provided by U. S.-UAE Business Council (2016), publications by Taha, Sharif, and Blair (2013), Kronfol (2012), and by Hamidi (2015) for the UAE. To research health care situation in the United Kingdom, the following publications were selected: a report by Chang, Peysakhovich, Wang, and Zhu (2017), and articles on the healthcare system and service delivery by Bevan et al. (2014) and Free et al. (2013). The selected works disclose the issues of healthcare service delivery in the countries under analysis and review the peculiarities of financing. These aspects are likely to facilitate the achievement of the major goals of the healthcare system such as improved health and improved efficiency.
Results
The analysis of the selected sources demonstrates that, although both systems seem to be particularly functional and are showing highly successful outcomes, the health care system of the UAE advances that of the United Kingdom. The primary factor that stipulates this conclusion is that the UAE’s goals regarding improvements in the health care system are achieved much more often than those of the UK. For example, sustainable financing and expenditure spending of the UAE government aimed at increasing health care facilities’ availability resulted in the creation of health care cities and over seventy hospitals solely in the government sector.
Furthermore, an important topic of providing health care services to expatriates was also successfully regulated by offering health care insurance via specific funds. The issue of health service delivery in the UAE is characterized by increasing attention to private-sector medicine, “medical tourism,” and tendencies of decentralization that are supposed to make healthcare facilities more autonomous (Kronfol, 2012). Such approaches provide better access to healthcare and, consequently, improve the overall level of health.
The health care system of the United Kingdom tends to be more focused on providing local authority and shaping medical institutions to be more autonomous in general. Although the overall quality of health care services is not necessarily increased via achieving these goals, they are considered to be important and are pursued especially persistent since 2008-2010. When it comes to health care service delivery in the UK, the issue of mobile health technologies should be regarded (Free et al., 2013). They are supposed to reduce the incidence of wrong diagnoses and improve treatment compliance that is likely to improve the treatment efficiency and patient outcomes.
Conclusions
It is important to understand that both systems are functioning based on different approaches to providing health care services. However, both systems apply a diversity of approaches that help to achieve the same goals. Thus, the analysis of service delivery and financing aspects allows making the conclusion that both countries design the health care systems so that they could favor improved health and improved efficiency of health care.
References
Bevan, G., Karanikolos, M., Exley, J., Connolly, S., & Mays, N. (2014). The four health systems of the United Kingdom: How do they compare? Summary report. London, England: The Health Foundation and Nuffield Trust.
Chang, J., Peysakhovich, F., Wang, W., & Zhu, J. (2017). The UK health care system. Web.
Free, C., Phillips, G., Watson, L., Galli, L., Felix, L., Edwards, P. … Haines, A. (2013). The effectiveness of mobile-health technologies to improve health care service delivery processes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Plos Medicine, 10(1), e1001363. Web.
Hamidi, S. (2015). Health services financing and delivery: Analysis of policy options for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research, 7(1), 133-143.
Kronfol, N.M. (2012). Delivery of health services in Arab countries: A review. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 18(12), 1229-1238.
Taha, N. F., Sharif, A. A., & Blair, I. (2013). Financing health care in the United Arab Emirates. World Hospitals and Health Services, 49(2), 33-39.
U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council. (2016). The U.A.E. healthcare sector: An update. Web.