Primary care reform: a three country comparison of 'budget holding'

Governments in most developed nations have been looking to organisational and financial reform of health systems over the last decade. Although the structure and problems of the health care sector in each country may differ, with countries correspondingly adopting different reform agendas, there has been some element of commonality in reforms: that of (managed) competition. Of particular importance in such reforms has been the strengthening of primary care. General practitioners and primary care physicians, as 'gatekeepers' to the health system, are increasingly being called upon to be accountable; not only for their patients' health but also for the wider resource implications of any treatments prescribed. In some countries this role has been formalised through establishing 'budget holding' for general practitioners and primary care physicians, for example, through general practice 'fund holding' in the UK, Health Maintenance Organisations in the USA, and Independent Practice Associations in New Zealand. This paper examines: (i) what such budget holding seeks to achieve; (ii) the effectiveness of the budget holding experience to date in achieving these objectives; and (iii) factors which appear to determine the success of budget holding in achieving its objectives.