A New Public Management for the Mexican Health System? Reflections to Contribute to the Research Agend

Abstract

This paper reviews the central features of the most recent approaches to public management: the Progressive Public Administration and the New Public Management. It is argued that the latter does not only represent a technical evolution, but responds to new historical contexts as well as theoretical and political premises. A classification of their proposals is posed in at least three variants a) close to orthodoxy, b) critical approaches, and c) contextualized applications of managerialism. The way in which some guidelines for the New Public Management are expressed in the reforms of Latin American health systems is reviewed, with particular attention given to Mexico. Both the research and controversy on the impact of these reforms have been focused on the macro-structural level. Therefore, multidisciplinary research lines on the institutional level and clinical management is required. This will allow us to understand the way in which these guidelines are being implemented in health services. Also to assess which aspects they favor or limit with respect to the right to health services for Mexican people.