Each partner institution of the Swiss Learning Health System (SLHS) is working on a specific topic that will lead to policy briefs and stakeholder dialogues.
Improving the assessment of the performance of health systems in times of crisis
Crises can severely disrupt health systems, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland. While the WHO's Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA) now includes resilience for crisis situations, this approach is still emerging and not widely adopted, highlighting the need for updated methods to evaluate the Swiss health system performance during crises. The main objective of this policy brief is to discuss recommendations for improving the assessment of the performance of the Swiss health system in times of crisis:
- To consider resilience as an inherent notion of health system performance assessment to make it useful in times of crisis.
- To adopt a standardized health system performance and resilience framework that is useful in times of crisis.
- To consider resilience indicators when assessing the performance of a health system in times of crisis.
- To facilitate health related data collection and sharing.
The goal of the stakeholder dialogue is to explore how health system resilience can be better integrated into Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA) and what practical steps can support this goal.
Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland have revealed significant vulnerabilities in health systems, highlighting the need to update performance assessment that incorporate resilience. To better prepare for future crises, it is essential to adopt a standardized framework that incorporates resilience indicators and to facilitate data sharing.
Camille Poroes, author of the Policy Brief
Author: Camille Poroes
Institution: Unisanté
Email: Camille.Poroes@unisante.ch
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