The medical reform: realities and prospects for Ukraine

Abstract

The aim is to analyze the realities and to determine prospects of the medical reform in Ukraine as a method of public administration of healthcare. The given paper uses an integrated approach, which consists in the study of public administration of healthcare as a single whole with the coordinated functioning of all its constituents; besides this, the methods, which were used at the empirical and theoretical levels, such as, an abstract logical method, a method of analyses and synthesis, and a method of comparison were applied in the given research. At present, nobody needs to be persuaded in the necessity of the medical reform in Ukraine. The reform calls for the formation of the «vector» of changes, establishment of the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU), reorganization of medical institutions into non-profit public utility companies (NPUCs), as well as the autonomisation and commercialization of them, and also inducement to making agreements with NHSU, reforming first the primary links, and later the secondary and the tertiary ones, organization of hospital districts etc. Nevertheless, a great number of questions remains concerning on-going and probable medical, social, and economical effects, caused by misuse of the methods of public management of healthcare development. The medical reform is not a goal in itself, but when implementing the reform, it is necessary to consider other related processes, such as globalization, technological progress, urbanization, demographic crisis, macro-economic situation, unfinished distribution of the rights of property in business, specialization. Now, there is «The Strategy of the Reformation of Healthcare of Ukraine». And the proper use of the complex of methods of public administration, directed both at balanced growth of the national health field, and prevention of negative influence of related sectors and fields of national economy guarantees its successful realization.