Health Systems in Transition - Portugal

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Health systems in transition Portugal 140
6.1.1 Regulation and governance
The publication of the framework law for all regulatory bodies (Law No. 67/2013,
of 28 August 2013) led to a strengthening of the powers of the HRA, created
in 2003. The new status of the HRA, published in August 2014 (Decree-
Law 126/2014, of 22 August 2014), gives the HRA exclusive jurisdiction for
assessing and monitoring all complaints by users of all health care services.
Additionally, the HRA also supervises the process of licensing all health care
providers, including issuing, maintaining and revoking licenses, as well as
inspecting facilities. The HRA’s new status has strengthened regulation in areas
directly contributing to safeguarding patients’ rights and to the quality and
safety of health care provision.
The ACSS also saw its powers being reinforced by assuming an increasing
role in the health system (see sections 3.3.3 and 3.7.1, Payment of hospitals).
Some previous bodies within the Ministry of Health have been integrated in
the ACSS, which currently leads the process of human and financial resources
planning and allocation within the NHS, contracting with all NHS providers,
linking the Ministry of Health with other bodies and entities, developing and
implementing IT within public health care providers, as well as managing
the RNCCI.
6.1.2 Health promotion
The National Health Plan (2012–2016) was recently extended until 2020 and
provides the main strategies for public health action to be implemented in the
next years. As main goals, the Plan sets the decrease of premature (before age
70 years) mortality by 20%, the increase of healthy life expectancy at age 65
by 30%, and the reduction of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases such
as smoking and child obesity (with no quantitative objective attached).
The new extended Plan (2012–2020) defines four main strategic axes to
guide health policies in Portugal in the next years: health citizenship, equity
and appropriate access to health care, quality and policies to improve lifestyles
(see section 5.1).
The DGH is responsible for the Plan’s design and implementation (see
sections 2.4 and 5.1). The Plan seeks the involvement of the public, private
and social sectors, in order to achieve the goals and obtain health gains in the
Portuguese population, assuring equity, quality and financial sustainability of
the health system.