Colombia Info
Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Posts: 17
Home Country: columbia
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 Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject: HEALTHCARE IN COLOMBIA / COLOMBIA HOSPITAL GUIDE |
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HEALTHCARE IN COLOMBIA
OVERVIEW
Colombia has a population of approximately 41.5 million. Colombia is a unitary republic with a democratic government decentralised towards the 31 departments and 1,050 municipalities.
In the 1980's and 1990's Colombia embarked on the institutional transformation of the health sector. In 1990, the "municipalisation of health" strengthened the sector through its territorial institutions and thus the government reorganised the sector into the General Social Security System (SGSSS), which includes a General Pension system, coverage for occupational risks, complementary social services, and the Social Security Health System.
The essence of the system is to expand coverage to the population - in public health, through the territorial entities, and in personal health care, through the insurance system.
In public health, the municipalities program carry out the basic activities through their local health plans and the Basic Health Plan (PAB). Regarding insurance, the Health Promoting Enterprises (EPS) in the contributory system (RCO) and the Administrators of the Subsidised System (ARS) in the subsidised system (RSU) administer insurance.
While universal coverage has been achieved in the subsidised system, the low-income population not yet affiliated with the system will continue to receive care free of charge through the network of public hospitals. The contributing population pays 12% of its income into the System, with everyone receiving identical care through the Compulsory Health Plan (POS); the subsidised population subscribes to the system through a quota paid by the State to an ARS and receives the Compulsory Subsidised Health Plan (POS-S), which as of 2001 will be identical to the POS.
The Compulsory Subsidised Health Plan includes individual, family, and collective activities, six of which correspond to the Basic Plan and one to catastrophic illnesses, which are subject to reinsurance. The population freely decides which EPS or ARS to join and (within the network offered by the systems) also chooses its institutional health service provider (IPS). The health sector reform also involves the conversion of public hospitals to State Social Enterprises (ESE).
At the end of 1997 the system had 14.5 million people affiliated with contributory system (35% of the total population), and over 7 million affiliated with the subsidised system (17.2% of the population), for a total of 52.8% of the population.
The new general social security system for health is based on four fundamental forms of support:
1. The National Council on Social Security for Health, under the Ministry of Health is a professional group that is responsible for standardising, controlling, and directing the system. The Ministry of Health relies on the sectional health services to carry out its duties at the territorial level.
2. The National Solidarity and Guaranty Fund is responsible for financing the system. All persons with incomes higher than the equivalent of two minimum wages are required to support the system with contributions, while the poor, the unemployed and peasants are subsidised.
3. The health promotion enterprises are the fundamental organisational nuclei of the system. They are responsible for the basic mobilisation of financial resources, health promotion, and organisation and delivery of medical services. These entities also have responsibility of managing the disabled and providing health services in the event of work-related accidents and occupational diseases as well as organising complementary health plans, which may be public, private, partnership-based, or mixed and that compete for subscribers in the population.
4. The institutions that provide health services - the hospitals, out-patient consultation offices, laboratories, basic health care centres and other health service centres, plus all the professionals who offer their services through the health promotion enterprises.
The public health service network consists of 3,340 jobs in the health sector, 904 health centres, 128 health centres with beds, and 555 hospitals - 397 hospitals at the primary level, 126 at the secondary level and 32 at the tertiary level. In addition, the private sector has 340 clinics. In 1994 there were 35,640 physicians (9.4 per 10,000 inhabitants); 16,560 nurses (4.4); 41,760 nurse assistants (11); 21,240 dentists (5.6); 10,800 bacteriologists (3) and 8,699 health promoters (2.3).
Total social spending by the State as a percentage of GDP was 15.67% in 1996. The national health expenditure per capita in 1997 was US$ 140. The national health expenditure as percentage of GNP in 1997 was 7.3%.
Private household expenditure on health was estimated at 3% of GDP in 1993, which means that in that year Colombians spent a little more than 6% of GDP on health. Of total private household expenditure, about 40% was for medication, 14% for office visits, 20% for hospitalisation, 5% for diagnostic tests and 20% for other items.
Because essential drugs are included in the Compulsory Health Plan and must be referred to by their generic names, the private market has deferred to the institutional market of the health promotion enterprises and the health service delivery institutions. This means that the negotiated unit prices have fallen significantly.
Expatriates are not covered unless they choose one of the pre-paid institutions. The level of care and quality is similar to that in their home countries. Alternative medicines are covered under private plans.
DIRECTORY OF HOSPITALS & CLINICS
Clinica Administradora Country
Carrera 16 N. 82-57
Santa fe de Bogota
Colombia
Tel: + 57 1 530 0470/1270
Clinica Centri Imbanco
Carrera 38 N. 5A-100
Cali
Colombia
Tel: + 57 2 558 8355
Fax: + 57 2 558 5783
Clinica De Occidente
Calle 18 nro 534
Cali
Colombia
Tel: + 57 2 660 3000
Clinica Fundacion Santa fe de Bogota
Calle 116 N. 9-02
Santa fe de Bogota
Colombia
Tel: + 51 1 669 3066
Clinica Fundacion Valle de Lili
Carrera 98 N. 18-49
Cali
Colombia
Tel: + 57 2 331 7474
Fax: + 57 1 331 7499
Clinica La Carolina
Transversal 14 Nr 126-11
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
38006
Colombia
Tel: + 57 1 614 6995
Fax: + 57 1 614 6913
Clinica Las Americas
Diagonal 75 B-2 A-80
Medellin
Colombia
Tel: + 57 4 342 1010
Fax: + 57 4 341 2946
Clinica Medellin
Sede el Poblado
Carrera 7 N. 39-290
Medellin
Colombia
Tel: + 57 4 311 2800
Fax: + 57 4 312 4930
Clinica Metropolitana de Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga
Colombia
Tel: + 57 76 643 2406
Fax: + 57 76 647 0882
Clinica [spam word detected]
Calle 51 Nr 45-93
Medellin
Colombia
Tel: + 57 4 251 0555
Clinica de Marly
Calle 50 N. 9-67
Santa fe de Bogota
Colombia
Tel: + 57 1 343 6600
Fundacion Sta Fe De Bogota
Calle 116 Nr 9-02
Bogota
Colombia
Tel: + 57 1 214 6611
Fax: + 57 1 214 6668
Hospital Bocagrande
Calle 5ta C/Carrera 6ta
Barrio Castillogrande
Cartagena
Colombia
Tel: + 57 5 665 4380
Instituto de Inmunologia del Hospital San
Cra. 10 Calle 1a
Santa fe de Bogota
Colombia
Tel: + 57 1 233 9006/233 4255
Fax: + 57 1 289 3999 |
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