title: Adapt or die?
abstract: The worldwide economic recession and the concomitant limited stock of finances have had an influence on the available money of every household and have also inhibited the improvement of socio-economic conditions and medicine. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) has the objective of improving the living conditions of the people with regard to housing, education, training and health care. The latter seems to be a major problem which has to be addressed with the emphasis on the preventive and promotional aspects of health care. A comprehensive health care system did not come into being property in the past because of the maldistribution of health care services, personnel and differences in culture and health care beliefs and values. The question that now arises, is how to render a quality health care service within the constraints of inadequate financing and resources. A comprehensive literature study has been done with reference to quality health care and financing followed by a survey of existing health services and finances. Recommendations are made about minimum requirements to be accepted if one were to adapt rather than die in terms of the provision of healthcare: the decentralization and rationalization of the administration of health care, the stress on and realization of effective and efficient primary health care, the acceptance of participative management in health providing organizations, the provision of financial management training for health care managers and the application of management accounting principles for the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cost and Management Accounting, Potchefstroom University for CHE.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Nel
mesh_terms: D005381:Financing, Organized; D006295:Health Resources; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa