Overview

Preoccupation with the value created by health systems has been longstanding, and will likely only intensify given the ongoing health systems strains and shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. But the focus so far has usually been limited to value as seen from the perspectives of certain actors in the health system and/or to certain dimensions of value.

This policy brief calls for a shared understanding of value that embraces the health system in its entirety, including preventive services and other public health functions. We then define value to be the contribution of the health system to societal wellbeing.