A systems approach to health insurance policy information: a preliminary taxonomy of health insurance issues, program options, problems and solutions.

A methodology is proposed for assisting health insurance policy analysts by developing a systems approach to health insurance information and literature. The general approach is to supply a link between the quantitative and qualitative information available, and the analytic needs of policy analysts. There is a great deal of information available, but traditional cataloging and indexing techniques do not adequately meet the policy researcher's and analyst's information needs. The most important of these once goals and limitations are identified, is knowledge of the interrelationships between program options in terms of expected results (problems, solutions) in a wide range of settings.The key element of the approach used is the concept of an information frame, based on considering health insurance as systems of issues, program options, problems, and solutions with interrelationships explicitly defined. This approach would provide initially qualitative identification of these interrelationships and make them available via a machine readable taxonomy of the components. With substantiating literature references, preliminary work on the building of the taxonomy is based on seven major health insurance issues, and over 70 program options, 325 problems, and 350 solutions so far identified for 170 of the problems. The implementation of this methodology would provide analytically structured information for policy analysts in a format not presently available. The multi-country information to be included would allow consideration of alternatives which might otherwise be neglected. The result would improve an important element of the analytic process, and reduce the lead time required for inquiries by health insurance policy analysts, legislators, health planners and administrators.