‘How does your health system work?’: a workshop at the WONCA Europe Conference 2012….

Last week around 2000 general practitioners (GPs) met in Vienna to discuss the theme of The Art and Science of General Practice at the annual WONCA Europe Conference (4-7 July). Yet one of the most conversation-starting topics on the agenda could be argued was neither directly art, nor purely clinical science. Over 200 GPs from around the world participated in a workshop on health systems financing, and were intrigued to learn more about the methods used to collect, pool and spend funds in health systems. The audience ranged from medical students to senior members of the profession, and highlighted broad differences in the levels of understanding of how health systems function. Some questioned why it was the first time in their careers that they had been given the opportunity to get an overview of the theory behind the core principles of health systems financing.