Evaluation of health care delivery integration: The case of the Russian Federation

Health Policy. 2014. No. 1. P. 1–10.

Sheiman I., Shevski V.

Fragmentation in organization and discontinuities in the provision of medical care are prob-lems in all health systems, whether it is the mixed public-private one in the USA, nationalhealth services in the UK, or insurance based one in Western Europe and Russia. In all ofthese countries a major challenge is to strengthen integration in order to enhance efficiencyand health outcomes. This article assesses issues related to fragmentation and integrationin conceptual terms and argues that key attributes of integration are teamwork, coordi-nation and continuity of care. It then presents a summary of service integration problemsin Russia and the results of a large survey of physicians concerning the attributes of inte-gration. It is argued that characteristics of the national service delivery model don’t ensureintegration. The Semashko model is not an equivalent to the integrated model. Big orga-nizational forms of service provision, like polyclinics and integrated hospital-polyclinics,don’t have higher scores of integration indicators than smaller ones. Proposals to improveintegration in Russia are presented with the focus on the regular evaluation of integration/fragmentation, regulation of integration activities, enhancing the role of PHC providers,economic incentives.

Keywords: health policy, medical service integration, coordination of care, continuity of care, Primary health carea

Publication based on the results of: Directions and mechanisms of forming integrated, transparent and efficient health system (2014)