AeHIN conducted a webinar on October 16, 2024, where Dr. Supasit Pannarunothai, a Professor of Community Medicine at Naresuan University in Thailand, outlined and explained Thailand’s health financing information systems and healthcare payment models. The session was attended by 31 participants from 19 countries.
Dr. Panarrunothai first presented Thailand’s health insurance model and the health systems building blocks of the World Health Organization (WHO). He then explained Thailand’s health financing information systems by showing the Service-Information-Finance (SIF)-UHC Framework from Dr. Boonchai Kijsanayotin, Chair of the Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN). The framework shows the linkage of the health system blocks with healthcare financing, healthcare delivery, and health information technology, underscoring that designing the information system, service delivery system, and payment methods together facilitates increasing return on value for the health system and building a value-based healthcare system.
Dr. Panarrunothai reiterated the need to advance information technology to assess integrated care. The challenge of providing integrated care with sound IT systems and payment design models remains, and research and capacity building of human resources and improving infrastructures are needed to drive a better and desirable health system.
Dr. Panarrunothai also talked about the cost of integrated care, analyzing fragmented health services, and using standards on data items for interoperability by which we can assess the value of the design and operation of the health system.
View the recording at https://youtu.be/-NMHr96-u-g?si=TXm8pbCF_VBGq3_V.
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