The future of health markets

This editorial introduces a new open collection in Globalization and Health on the topic of the future of health markets. In 2012, we undertook work for the Rockefeller Foundation that sought to inform their future investments in health markets. Whereas health markets are sometimes viewed solely through the lens of private health care providers, our approach was broader, viewing such providers as one of many inter-connected actors who work within a market system [1]. We were interested in better understanding the interactions between these many actors, including public and private health care providers, payors, regulators, and civil society organizations, and the rules and regulations that govern the market. Our starting point was that poor people in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) frequently depend on care from private health care providers, particularly informal private providers, and so, to expand access to high quality services for the poor, we need to think more strategically about how to influence health markets [2,3]. Health markets are the subject of increasing attention, and there are a number of factors driving this. One such driver is economic growth in some LMICs, which has led to rapid market growth [4]. Other factors include changes in views on the role of the state and markets and the emergence of diverse models of organizing service provision, particularly in emerging economies such as India [5]. The current focus on universal health coverage and the associated expansion of health insurance may also have significant impacts on health markets [6]. In particular, there appears to be increasing consensus that if government can finance quality services for the poor, then it matters less who provides those services. Further the growth of pooled funding for health provides significant opportunities for monitoring and improving quality of care in health markets. Finally technological change is also driving market developments [7]. For example, increased access to and more sophisticated applications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) along with low-cost diagnostic technologies have facilitated