Perspectives on Business and Economics.Vol41

15 MARTINDALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE munity agents increase engagement between patients and physicians while maximizing workforce efficiency. Costa Rica’s basic integrated health-care teams (Equipo Básico de Atención Integral en Salud) consist of a physician for curative and preventative care; a nurse for basic clinical tasks and health counseling; a technical assistant for health promotion activities, disease prevention, epidemiological data collection, risk factors, and specialist referrals; a medical clerk for patient intake, data management, and population health surveillance; and a pharmacist for dispensing prescribed medications (Pesec et al., 2017). The implementation of these teams has enabled a system for integrative feedback among Costa Rican health- care workers to proactively address all citizens’ needs (Pesec et al., 2017). Denmark would benefit from this sort of quality coordination between its levels of health care; Figure 4 shows a model of what Danish health care might look like under such a system. The National Patient Registry should work closer with the Health Data Authority officials and the regional patient advisors to administer a comprehensive, dynamic health report for each patient seen by a GP. These reports should be shared with any specialists to whom the patient is referred and be complete, with all medical history, complaints, and diagnoses. Likewise, any information from follow-up treatment or additional hospital visits should be continuously compiled in the patient’s report until the patient is no longer living. This database can then be used for regional research and development. Statistical analysis of patient demographics and incidence of conditions can help predict needs for referrals to specialists, hence reducing in-office wait time for patients. Using these data, the MOH can continue to provide recommendations for regional and municipal care, inviting physicians and nurses into conversations regarding future legislation. This inclusiveness will go a long way in terms of making health-care workers feel appreciated under the public health system, thereby encouraging them to further contribute their services. Conclusion The Danish health-care system strives to provide high-quality care to all its patients, but without systemically efficient solutions, the country will struggle to truly thrive as a role model for other global healthcare structures. This study of the Danish health-care system finds that its current fragmentation has consequential effects that compromise its efficiency and sustainability. A demonstrated lack of cooperation between the workforce of the health-care hierarchy has reduced the quality of patient care and shed light on its organizational flaws. This proposal of an integrated health-care system takes into consideration the negative impacts of the separation of the health units at the municipal, regional, and national levels; the aging population; and the lack of employees in the workforce of the public health system. Increasing the use of telemedicine, prioritizing the retention of recently graduated Danish medical students, and optimizing the usage of collected health data are solutions with potential for ensuring long-term sustainability of the health-care system. While the metrics of success for these solutions are only observed in the long term, their implementation will open clearer and more efficient lines of communication within the health-care hierarchy, fostering a healthier, more forward-thinking culture in the system that will become quickly evident in the short term. References Christiansen, T., & Vrangbæk, K. (2018). Hospital centralization and performance in Denmark—Ten years on. Health Policy, 122(4), 321–328. 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