Chile weighs adherence to AUGE guarantees
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Cataract surgery accounts for the bulk of the – albeit small – incidence of delayed care in Chile that is seen as being in breach of the country's "universal healthcare access guarantees" (AUGE) programme. This information, of which the health ministry is aware, is contained in a report produced for it by the Fonasa healthcare fund. The recently-released report constitutes the first appraisal of the level of adherence to AUGE's legally-binding principles. Fully 98.8% of services commissioned in 2008 were provided in accordance with its guarantees on timing. The remainder, ostensibly commissioned specifically as a result of "delay, increased risk or non-adherence", totalled almost 28,000 cases. 90% of these were covered by the private sector.