TY  - JOUR
AU  - Chernichovsky,Dov
TI  - A Fuzzy Logic Approach Toward Solving the Analytic Maze of Health System Financing
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8470
PY  - 2001
Y2  - September 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8470
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8470.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Dov Chernichovsky
Health Policy and Management Unit
Center for Health Sciences
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Beer Sheva
ISRAEL
Tel: 972-(0)-8-6477422
Fax: 972-(0)-8-6477634
E-Mail: dov@som.bgu.ac.il
AB  - Improved health, equity, macro-economic efficiency, efficient provision of care, and client satisfaction are the common goals of the health system. The relative significance of these goals varies, however, across nations, communities, and with time.  As for health care finance, the attainment of these goals under varying circumstances involves alternative policy options for each of the following elements: sources of finance, allocation of finance, pay to providers, and public-private mix.  The intricate set of multiple goals, elements, and policy options defies human reasoning, and, hence, hinders effective policymaking. Indeed, health system finance' is not amenable to a clear set of structural relationships. Neither is there a universe that can be subject to statistical scrutiny: each health system is unique. 'Fuzzy logic' and its underlying 'Expert System' that model human reasoning by managing  knowledge' close to the way it is handled by human language, provides a powerful tool for systematic analysis of health system finance, and for guiding policy making. Assuming equal welfare weights for alternative goals, and mutually exclusive policy options under each health-financing element, the exploratory model we present here suggests that a German type health system is best. Other solutions depend on the welfare weights and mixes of policy options.
ER  -