The health systems agency: a new bureaucracy

A Federal law signed by President Ford in 1975 (PL 93-641) mandates the establishment of Health Systems Agencies across the country. The major intent of the law is to provide local direction and control of health care planning. Each Agency shall have a professional staff under the aegis of a board of directors composed of a majority of consumers and a minority of providers. Data identifying health care needs shall be translated into a Health Systems Plan, which is a statement of goals for each Agency; an Annual Implementation Plan shall be developed as a statement of objectives, projects, and strategies requisite to achieving the Health Systems Plan. The concept of the Health Systems Agency has correlate state and federal bureaucratic strata to facilitate health care planning coordination.