Fit for the Future? A New Approach in the Debate about What Makes Healthcare Systems Really Sustainable

Matthias Fischer
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Matthias Fischer: Institute for Sustainability Governance, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Scharnhorststraße 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: As healthcare systems face enormous challenges, sustainability is seen as a crucial requirement for making them fit for the future. However, there is no consensus with regard to either the definition of the term or the factors that characterize a “sustainable healthcare system”. Therefore, the aim of this article is twofold. First, it gives examples of the existing literature about sustainable healthcare systems and analyzes this literature with regard to its understanding of sustainability and the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches. The article then identifies crucial factors for sustainable healthcare systems, and the result, a conceptual framework consisting of five distinct and interacting factors, can be seen as a starting point for further research.

Keywords: sustainable healthcare systems; definition; conceptual framework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2014:i:1:p:294-312:d:44112

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