Similar to developing countries elsewhere, during the 1990s, Central American countries faced pressures to improve the performance of their health systems. In most countries, there was a consensus that the systems were failing to live up to their potential. Rather than take on system-wide change, each country opted to step into reform through launching innovations to address specific problems or deficiencies in a particular program, function or intervention of the system. 'Health Systems Innovations in Central America' reports on how these experiences fared a hospital in Panama, a nutrition...

'Innovaciones en los sistemas de salud en Centroamerica' informa sobre el resultado de una serie de experiencias: un hospital en Panama, un programa de nutricion en Honduras, extension de la atencion primaria en Guatemala, un subgrupo de hospitales y unidades de atencion primaria en Costa Rica y un programa de atencion de salud administrado por la seguridad social en Nicaragua. Los estudios documentan el desempeno de las innovaciones, el plan ambiental en que fueron desarrolladas asi como tambien las caracteristicas basicas y los procesos incorporados en su diseno e implementacion."

Hospitals are a critical component of the health care provided to many Brazilians. Hospitals--which absorb nearly 70 percent of public spending on health--are also a critical component of the government's budget, and are thus at the forefront of policy discussions. Why hospitals are important in Brazil is easy to understand. What makes hospitals deliver quality care efficiently--or not--is much harder to grasp. Drawing on an eclectic array of research and evaluative studies selected from a mix of sources, 'Hospital Performance in Brazil: The Search for Excellence' analyzes Brazilian hospital...