Library

Public/private partnerships are currently in vogue; this issue of Hospital Quarterly contains several tributes to them. The popularity of the term has
made it elastic, stretching to encompass a wide variety of arrangements. Some have the potential to be the ever-sought “win-win solutions,” while others, despite superficial attractiveness, should be avoided like botulism. Assessment of the place of such partnerships thus requires the academic’s
favorite pastime - defining our terms. I’ll restrict myself to defin- ing three concepts – dimensions of health systems, “public” and “private,” and “medical necessity” – before moving on to examine what they tell us about the role of the private sector.