Abstract
Public health care is the foundation of most health-care systems, serving as an essential safety net for the whole population. However, expensive hospital-based clinical services have often resulted in insufficient resource allocation for primary health care. This is a common phenomenon in the funding policy of many developed economies, where the private sector is seen to be providing excellent primary care services and more personalised choices with more readily accessible services. Hence the involvement of the private sector to provide better and more efficient facilities and services, and to encourage innovation, will enhance productivity, speed up project and service delivery and increase opportunities for investment in better health. This chapter examines the funding deficiencies in primary care in the public sector. The advantages of public-private partnership (PPP) will be explored, covering topics especially on the accessibility of health-care services, utilisation of skills and experience as well as the technology and innovation of the private sector for better delivery of public services. Potential demerits of international experiences such as unreliable levels of service will also be discussed. Appropriate PPP models, based on international experiences on improving the programme quality, will be recommended as long-term solutions to address health-care challenges and to improve primary public care.
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Wong, K.N.W., Quattri, F. (2020). Public-Private Partnership in Primary Care. In: Fong, B., Law, V., Lee, A. (eds) Primary Care Revisited . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2521-6_6
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