Colombia provides coverage of healthcare services for 96% of the population -- far better than many other OECD countries. Despite this progress, poor health outcomes and the quality of care provided is still a matter of concern.
The World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently carried out an assessment of the quality of health care in Colombia covering both public and private service provisions. To conduct the study, the World Bank Group combined its comprehensive quality diagnostic tool that looks at the overall system (regulation, strategy, design etc.) with the IFC’s IQ-Healthcare tool that assesses quality of care at the facility level to create a holistic assessment of quality gaps. All the recommendations in the report were directed to stakeholders involved in improving quality of care, including healthcare providers, insurance companies, local authorities, governments and patients.
Due to the program's success in Colombia, the World Bank and IFC have launched a joint initiative to work on a country-by-country basis to raise the quality of health care. The initiative will help countries realize their goals of achieving universal health coverage by concurrently ensuring high quality of care.
What does health care coverage and quality of care look like in your country? Share your comments below.
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