Medicine is practiced within the medical system which is a legal credentialing and financing framework established

by a particular culture or government. The characteristics of a health care system have significant effect on the way

medical care is delivered.

Most industrialized countries and many developing countries deliver health care though a system of universal

health care which guarantees health care for all through a system of compulsory private or cooperative health

insurance funds or via government backed social insurance. This insurance in effect a form of taxation ensures the

entire population has access to medical care on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. The delivery systems may

be provided by private medical practices or by state owned hospitals and clinics or by charities.

Most tribal societies but also some communist countries e.g. China and at least one industrialized capitalist country

the United States provide no guarantee of health care for the population as a whole. In such societies health care is

available to those that can afford to pay for it or have self insured it either directly or as part of an employment

contract or who may be covered by care financed by the government or tribe directly.

Transparency of information is another factor defining a delivery system. Access to information on conditions

treatments quality and pricing greatly affects the choice by patientsconsumers and therefore the incentives of

medical professionals. While US health care system has come under fire for lack of openness new legislation may

encourage greater openness. There is a perceived tension between the need for transparency on the one hand and

such issues as patient confidentiality and the possible exploitation of information for commercial gain on the other.