{"id":2629,"date":"2013-02-01T15:56:50","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T15:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/CEGSS_2016\/2013\/02\/01\/article-conceptos\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T04:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T04:09:11","slug":"article-conceptos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/2013\/02\/01\/article-conceptos\/","title":{"rendered":"CORE CONCEPTS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why is governance relevant in health systems?<\/p>

When we talk about health system governance, we move away from the proverbial traditional \u2018box\u2019 in which health care institutions are located. This implies that in the analysis of health system governance, in addition to taking into account the role of traditional actors in the provision of medical services and in the conduct of health policies, we also study the influence of local governments, organized civil society groups - be they community-based organizations, trade unions, and others - as well as academic institutions and economic agents - such as the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries, etc. We can say that our analysis of governance applied to health systems:<\/p>

  • It contributes to identify strategic spaces for political advocacy, social participation and strengthening of citizenship in health. All this is done from the perspective of governance. We also see that social participation goes beyond collaborating in the implementation of medical programs and services and should be a process of building dialogue in the definition and implementation of public policies.<\/li>
  • It contributes to a better understanding of the conflicts of power and interests among the actors, as well as the level of influence that each of them exerts. This influence is reflected in the priorities and policies implemented in health systems.<\/li>
  • It requires the application of strategic thinking that makes it possible to identify the prevailing factors in specific contexts. This can bring important benefits to health systems because a better strategic reading of the elements involved -actors, policies and resources- will make it possible to identify and implement interventions that are both technically feasible and politically viable.<\/li>
  • What is health systems governance?<\/li><\/ul>

    \u00a0<\/p>

    The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health systems governance as \u2018The participation of stakeholders concerned with defining and implementing policies, programs and practices that promote equitable and sustainable health systems\u2019. The WHO definition is limited because it associates governance only with stakeholder participation. Research work by our members (Flores 2010) defines governance in health systems as: The processes for decision making that directly or indirectly affect the health system. In these processes, strategic actors and organizations that apply the rules of the game and other formal and informal procedures interact. Strategic actors use power resources to influence decision-making.<\/p>

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    Why is governance relevant in health care systems? When we talk about health care system governance, we step outside the proverbial \u2018box\u2019 in which medical service providers are traditionally confined. This means that in analyzing health system governance, in addition to considering the role of traditional actors in the delivery of medical services and the implementation of health policies, we also examine the influence exerted by local governments, organized civil society groups\u2014whether grassroots community organizations, labor unions, or others\u2014as well as academic institutions and economic actors, such as the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries, among others. We can say that our analysis of governance as applied to health systems contributes to identifying strategic opportunities for policy advocacy, social participation, and the empowerment of citizens in health matters. All of this is done from the perspective of governance. We also observe that social participation goes beyond merely collaborating on the implementation of medical programs and services; it should be a process of fostering dialogue in the definition and implementation of public policies. It helps to better understand the conflicts of power and interest among stakeholders, as well as the level of influence each one exerts. This influence is reflected in the priorities and policies implemented in health systems. It requires strategic thinking that allows for the identification of the key factors in specific contexts. This can bring significant benefits to health systems because a better strategic understanding of the elements involved\u2014stakeholders, policies, and resources\u2014will enable the identification and implementation of interventions that are both technically and politically viable. What is health system governance? The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health system governance as \u2018the participation of stakeholders concerned with the definition and implementation of policies, programs, and practices that promote equitable and sustainable health systems.\u2019 The WHO\u2019s definition is limited because it associates governance solely with stakeholder participation. Research by our members (Flores 2010) defines governance in health systems as: the decision-making processes that directly or indirectly affect the health system. In these processes, strategic actors and organizations interact to apply the rules of the game and other procedures\u2014both formal and informal. Strategic actors use their power to influence decision-making. \u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":58,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c18-banner-slidershow"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2629"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4837,"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions\/4837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cegss.org.gt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}