Weakness of Italy as Compared to Other Nations
Weakness of Italy as Compared to Other Nations
Name
Institution
Course
Date
Introduction
Healthcare system in Italy is funded via the government across the country. All people are offered free and equal opportunities to access the required medical needs. The local health administrators also participate in management of healthcare in different regions across the country (de Belvis, et al, 2012). A certain percentage of the taxes from the Italians are used to finance services such as medication, and hospitalization (Thomson, 2012). The Italian healthcare system has strengths. However, as compared to other countries, a wide range of weaknesses characterizes it. The paper will analyse the weaknesses of Italian healthcare system as compared to other nations.
Weaknesses
Since the Italian health care system is universal, the patients experience many challenges. First, the quality of care provided in different regions across the country is not guaranteed hence users are not satisfied. Reports indicate that most of the healthcare facilities lack adequate number of health care practitioners (Thomson, 2012). Therefore, patients are required to wait for a long period particularly those suffering from uncritical health conditions. Moreover, the quality of major health facilities in the country is also weak. However, there is a difference in terms of quality of health facilities in Italy depending on the regions (de Belvis, et al, 2012). Quality of health care in the Northern and Southern Italy differs. In most cases, health quality in hospitals located in Northern Italy is higher and more effective. However, in the southern parts, the health care is less efficient and effective as compared to northern areas (de Belvis, et al, 2012). Most importantly, in comparison with other European nations, the quality of health services in Italy is lower because of poor efficiency and effectiveness (Kooner, 2015).
Research by Thomson, (2012) revealed that there is a weakness in the Italian health care system because of inadequate of technology (Thomson, 2012). As compared to countries such as the US, Italy has not fully embraced modern equipment in medical care services. For instance, a report in 2010 noted that CT scanners and MRI in Italy were fewer as compared to in the US (Kooner, 2015). Therefore, insufficiency of diagnostic equipment in the country inhibits its capacity to offer quality treatment and diagnosis.
Furthermore, health practitioners such as nurses and physicians operate in both public and private hospitals. The main reason why they work in private hospitals is to make extra income. However, this compromises the delivery of services in public sector because they spend more time working in private hospitals (Thomson, 2012). On the other hand, most of the private hospitals lack adequate funds to purchase costly medical equipment.
Another weakness in healthcare is evident because the country has a huge population of aging people. The working class in both the private and public sector is responsible of financing health system via taxes (de Belvis, et al, 2012). Nonetheless, the percentage of people going to retirement is higher as compared to those joining the workforce. Consequently, the labour force is too small to meet the health care needs of the retiring population (Thomson, 2012). Due to this fact, it is more likely that healthcare will increase the debt of the country as compared to other nations, which leads to higher costs that is transferred to the citizens. Therefore, it contributes to the weakness of sustainability in the Italian healthcare financing.
Conclusion
Although the Italian health care system has broad range of strengths, there are a number of weaknesses. For instance, its quality is lower as compared to other countries such as the US. There are inadequate staffs in public health facilities, which lead to dissatisfaction among the users (Thomson, 2012). Moreover, most of private hospitals have no capacity to purchase cost medical equipment.
Review of References
de Belvis, A. G., Ferrè, F., Specchia, M. L., Valerio, L., Fattore, G., & Ricciardi, W. (2012). The financial crisis in Italy: implications for the healthcare sector. Health policy, 106(1), 10-16.
This reference is a peer-reviewed journal retrieved from ebsco.com. It explains the main challenges facing Italian health care system especially in terms of finances. Most importantly, the article points out some of the weaknesses of the Italian healthcare system.
Kooner, A. (2015). Health Care System Delivery in the United States (11th ed.). Albany, N.Y.: Delmar Publishers.
This reference is academic book, which was retrieved from the Google books. It is an important in this paper because it provides the overview of healthcare system in the US. Therefore, the paper was able to provide a comparison between the Italian and US health care system. Through this reference, the writer presented the weaknesses of Italian health system relative to that of the US.
Thomson, S. (2012). International profiles of health care systems Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Commonwelth Funds.
This was a peer-reviewed journal that was retrieved from ebsco.com. The article offers a highlight of the healthcare systems in major countries such as Italy, France, England and Canada. Therefore, the writer was able to compare and identify the weakness in Italian health care system as compared to several other nations.
References
de Belvis, A. G., Ferrè, F., Specchia, M. L., Valerio, L., Fattore, G., & Ricciardi, W. (2012). The financial crisis in Italy: implications for the healthcare sector. Health policy, 106(1), 10-16.
Kooner, A. (2015). Health Care System Delivery in the United States (11th ed.). Albany, N.Y.: Delmar Publishers.
Thomson, S. (2012). International profiles of health care systems Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Commonwelth Funds.