ABSTRACT
A health care system consists of the arrangements and processes by which a society organizes health care services. The major parties in any health care system include the purchasers (governments, employers, individuals), the payers or financial intermediaries (government agencies, insurance companies), providers (hospitals, physicians, nurses, dietitians, and others), and patients. Traditional indemnity health insurance plans have offered patients unrestricted choice of health care providers and reimbursed on a free-for-service basis. In general, such plans have done little to ensure appropriate utilization of preventive services and little to restrict inappropriate utilization of health services or to manage patients with chronic diseases.
