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Health

Governments use OGP to build stronger healthcare systems through open data and participatory, accountable public decision-making.

Overview | Recommendations | Partners | Data | Documents | Commitments | Recent Posts

Overview

Healthcare accounts for a large proportion of government budgets, but increased spending has often not been matched by improvements in outcomes. Governments collecting increased health data are also looking for ways to empower citizens to use this information to take control of their own medical care.  

OGP members have taken an extremely varied approach to dealing with healthcare. Of the more than 180 OGP commitments addressing healthcare, the majority concern data publication on patient outcomes. Other commitments involve citizens participating in decisions about health, such as clinic construction or policy design, or promoting greater accountability. 

Open government can help governments expand access and service delivery to even the most marginalized communities, especially with child and maternal care. It can also help build strong, effective health systems and spur investment in critical research.

The 2019 OGP Global Report suggests future commitments may consider addressing universal health coverage, primary care, and reproductive health.


Recommendations

  • Provide easily accessible and up-to-date data on healthcare services and providers. Uruguay’s A Tu Servicio portal puts the power in the hands of consumers, who can use the portal to rate and choose their healthcare providers.
  • Provide transparent procurement information to save resources.  In Ukraine, an open procurement system, ProZorro, led to around two thousand healthcare organizations saving an average of fifteen percent on all of their procurements.
  • Create a one-stop shop for citizens to access their medical files and other information. The Bulgarian government launched The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), a new national health system, to reduce the time and administrative challenges people face in accessing their medical files, navigating reimbursement claims and lists of approved medicines, and maintaining their healthcare rights.
  • Tailor community approaches to healthcare by working to ensure good delivery. In Mongolia, newly-trained citizen social accountability activists engage with the government to improve public service delivery, like healthcare, in their communities. So far, trainees have identified potential savings equivalent to ten percent of the health budget.  
  • Codify access to healthcare for marginalized and oppressed groups.  Buenos Aires created a comprehensive and public database containing information on the availability of sexual and reproductive health services, and a geolocation map of the centers to increase access to their services.

OGP Global Report Data

The data below is drawn from the 2019 OGP Global Report. You can view and learn more about the report here.

These are members making OGP commitments to improve their performance in the respective policy area. As members that have demonstrated political commitment through OGP, the next step is ensuring that implemented commitments have maximal impact.

Key
Indicates that member has a starred commitment in this policy area.


Resources

  1. Open Response + Open Recovery: Open Service Delivery in Health – Communities and Governments Working Together

    In times of crisis more than ever, ensuring wide, efficient and timely access to public services by those who need…

    2020, , Web Page

  2. Global Report - Health

    OGP members have taken an extremely varied approach to dealing with health, from citizen monitoring of local expenditures to bringing…

    2019, Document, PDF

  3. USAID: Acting on the Call

    The goal of foreign assistance is to end its need to exist. As countries move along the Journey to Self-Reliance,…

    2019, Outbound Link, Web Page

  4. Health Fact Sheet

    Snapshot of global progress and member-level examples of health reform in OGP

    2019, Document, PDF

  5. Making the Case for Open Contracting in Healthcare Procurement

    2017, , Web Page

  6. The Impact of Open Government: Assessing the Evidence

    Open government has in recent years emerged as an area of intense activity and fervent hope for some of our…

    2016, Outbound Link, Web Page


Commitments


Recent Content

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OGP Fact Sheets

Explore global progress and member-level examples of open government work in each of the selected policy areas and various regions.

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Open Government Partnership