Seven out of ten Colombians rate the health system favorably. Of these, 9% say that it should remain the same and 58% consider that it should have some adjustments, while 32% believe that it should change in its entirety, according to the Great Survey prepared by Andi and Invamer.
(Also read: Ministry of Health denies that a document circulating on networks is articulated as a reform).
The health reform and the future of the EPS are some of the most controversial issues in recent days in Colombia.
Sectors linked to the health sector and that would be affected by the project led by the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, have expressed their concerns because the initiative, in their opinion, has not been publicized and there is a lot of information circulating without clarifying various topics.
In this order of ideas, Andi and Invamer reveal this Wednesday the results of the Great Survey on health in Colombia, a survey carried out among citizens to find out their perception of the current health system.
If the government wants to create a system that favors prevention, increases coverage, especially in rural sectors, and controls the use of resources, on the other hand, important sectors express their concern that a system that Although it has many things to improve, it is considered, by international measurements, as one of the best in the region.
The researchers conducted 2,704 household surveys, with a large coverage in terms of age, carried out in urban and rural settings. According to Invamer, the margin of error for this poll is 1.88%.
The Great Survey was conducted between January 20 and January 29. An attempt was made to identify specific things so that they were not yes or no answers. In addition, the population was asked questions about the contributory and subsidized regime, with the aim of determining how much people in the country knew about their health system.
The result of the survey revealed that 73% of people rate health services in general above 3, on a scale of 1 to 5. Qualifying as strengths that the state pays for their health care (with a score of 83 %), the care of medical and health personnel (76%), and the quality of care points such as hospitals, clinics, laboratories and outpatient centers (76%), among other factors.
Given specific questions about accessibility to the health system, the survey highlighted that 73% of the population that belongs to the sample has been able to access the health system when required, while 27% did not and the main reasons why those that the participants could not access were, mainly, the delay in assigning appointments (55%), that a good care service is not offered (15%) and that the health system is not agile or fast (12% ). The waiting time for the assignment of appointments is the biggest challenge of the system, according to the citizens surveyed.
Despite the fact that 67% of Colombians consider that the health system should remain the same or need only some adjustments, the majority of those surveyed do not seem to be clear about the specific functions of the EPS and IPS. When the respondents were asked if they were aware of what an EPS was, 70% stated that they were, while 37% assured that they were clear about the functions of an IPS.
However, 94% responded that functions such as the prescription of medications and the performance of surgical procedures (among others) were the sole responsibility of the EPS. While the assignment of appointments or the management of health prevention (among others), are functions that the respondents assigned only to the IPS.
Regarding the qualification of regimes, the survey shows that 58% of respondents who belong to the contributory health regime consider it excellent, as do 62% of respondents who belong to the subsidized health regime.
In this regard, 92% of people rate 3 or more on a scale of 1 to 5 the
attention from the health professional who attended them (doctor, nurse), 91% of people rate the facilities where they were treated at 3 or more on a scale of 1 to 5 (office, laboratory, hospital), and 77% of people rate 3 or more on a scale of 1 to 5 the opportunity in the delivery of medicines if they have been required.
An important focus of the survey reveals that, despite the fact that at least 35 million people have required more than 3 health services in the last two years, on a large number of occasions, the EPS have not contacted their patients through of calls, text messages or emails – monitoring people’s health – after the procedures.
Finally, the survey addresses the perception of Colombians about the health system. 71% of those surveyed express their concern for a health system whose funds are managed only by public entities, while 54% are concerned that the resources of the health system are managed only by public, national and territorial entities.
TIME