Health care system

Health care systems are designed to meet the health care needs of target populations. There are a wide variety of health care systems around the world. In some countries, the health care system planning is distributed among market participants, whereas in others planning is made more centrally among governments, trade unions, charities, religious, or other co-ordinated bodies to deliver planned health care services targeted to the populations they serve. However, health care planning has often been evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
Goals
The goals for health systems, according to the World Health Report 2000 - Health systems: improving performance (WHO, 2000), are good health, responsiveness to the expectations of the population, and fair financial contribution. Duckett (2004) proposed a two dimensional approach to evaluation of health care systems: quality, efficiency and acceptability on one dimension and equity on another.
Providers
Health care providers are trained professional people working self-employed or as an employee in an organization, whether a for-profit company, a not-for profit company, a government entity, or a charity. Organizations employing people providing health care are also known as health care providers. Examples are doctors and nurses, paramedics, dentists, medical laboratory staff, specialist therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, chiropractors, and optometrists.