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212387 Moving forward or backward: History, culture, and transition to private healthcare in TurkeyMonday, November 9, 2009
Objectives: To ascertain challenges health care professionals face in the changing of health care in Istanbul from public to private provision and to identify approaches used to resolve such challenges to maintain universal health care.
Methods: In one month's time, we conducted 12 interviews with health practitioners across a range of occupations (health officers, medical directors, pharmacists, clinical psychologists, herbal practitioners) working in each major division of health care in Istanbul, Turkey. Results: Through qualitative analysis, we identified five primary challenges common across occupations and locations: 1)Ensuring comparable standards for quality of care between private and public provision 2)Designing effective procedures for follow up in the wake of the devolving of the doctor's role in community care 3)Combating spread of misinformation among the populace regarding quality of care and educational competency of general practitioners versus specialists 4)Assessing methods for fostering greater courtesy, trust, and cooperation among health care professionals and between health care professionals and the government 5)Confronting the income disparities between medical professionals and its roots in conflicts of interest and other dishonest practices Conclusion: Lessons from the United States' problems with private health care delivery should be considered as Turkey increasingly relies more on the private sector. The traditional culture of community and acceptance of sharing health risks should be retained even in this new system. Addressing the main challenges outlined previously would significantly reduce the lack of communication, waste, and corruptive influence making the current public system so costly and ineffective.
Learning Objectives: Keywords: Students, Health Care Reform
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have learned and researched the history of the health care
system in Turkey along with interviewing numerous key members in the health care system in Istanbul, Turkey. In
addition, through my interviews, I have been fortunate enough to witness the health care system in action while in
Istanbul, which supports my reasoning to discuss lessons learned from this project to other professionals especially students. Furthermore, I have learned other major countries' health care system such as United Kingdom and Japan
through USC's MPH program and have knowledge of the American health care system from classes and working
experience in the various sectors. My education: Master of Public Health, University of Southern California, Los Angeles:
Global Health Leadership track, Keck School of Medicine, Expected May 2010. Bachelor of Arts in Molecular and Cell
Biology emphasis in Cell and Development Biology, University of California, Berkeley: Minor in Theater and Performance
Studies, May 2007. Relevant experiences include working for the following: Pomona Community Health Center as
graduate student assistant, Pomona Valley Medical Center as college volunteer, California Department of Health
Services as student assistant in the Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, and San Leandro Children Clinic as student
volunteer. I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation. |
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