Healthcare reform implementation: Stakeholders and their roles - The Israeli experience

In early 1995, Israel implemented a healthcare reform. The course of any such reform depends largely on the strengths and interests of different stakeholders in the health system and their roles during the implementation phase. This paper discusses the roles of stakeholders in the recent Israeli healthcare reform, analyzes their motives, and describes their impact on the course of the reform. In retrospect, the Israeli healthcare reform had a profound effect on the country's overall healthcare environment and involved significant social, cultural, and financial changes and advancements. However, imbalances among stakeholders in the health system caused several aspects of the reform to stray from the original plan. Thus, in the first few years after the reform only first steps were taken toward the fulfillment of the vision of the reform, an equitable healthcare system that meets the health needs and welfare of the population from cradle to grave. A study of the stakeholders may further our understanding of the process of health-reform implementation.