Health systems” is a broad term encompassing the personnel, institutions, commodities, information, financing and financial protection strategies that support the delivery of disease prevention and treatment. These elements are necessarily interrelated and dependent upon one another. For example, the delivery of primary health care requires financing, personnel and, generally, a physical space in which to function. Health workers need information, tools, skills and medicines to do their jobs. Clients need the financial means, subsidies or insurance to use services. If any of these elements are weak or missing, a bottleneck to efficient and effective delivery of health care is created. Health systems research identifies where these bottlenecks
exist and provides innovative solutions to improve the delivery of health care.
