Health systems desperately need a better metaphor, writes Ruth Levine, CGD senior fellow and vice president for programs and operations. Current metaphors, including those borrowed from economics (supply and demand sides, the "invisible hand") leave everybody but economists glassy-eyed. The problem is that health systems are themselves composed of many interconnecting systems that have distinct roles but must function smoothly together -- like the human body, Levine suggests. For example, the physical infrastructure is like the bones, the health workforce is like the muscles, and the distribution of supplies is like the circulatory system. And financial resources? Kind of like the digestive system, providing energy to power everything else. Levine concedes that the metaphor is imperfect and she invites others to suggest something better.
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