The Superintendence of Health is the legal successor of the Superintendence of Isapres, and started its activities on January 1, 2005. Its main duties are:
- overseeing and controlling both the National Health Trust (Fondo Nacional de Salud, FONASA) and the Isapres, ensuring that these fulfill their legal obligations, and
- supervising healthcare providers from the private and public sectors as to their accreditation and registration.
Our staff is comprised of 95 men and 149 women, working in Santiago and in Chile's different regions. We have 14 offices throughout Chile.
The Superintendence of Health is committed to protecting the people's right to healthcare by setting strategic definitions that aim at excellence, and by having an organic structure that takes into consideration the objectives and needs of the organization, based on the current legal framework.
The Superintendence of Health identifies and systematizes the key elements that an Institution must have in order to work seamlessly. Our priority is to have constant feedback about the whole learning process of the organization, basing our strategic planning on the quality and talent of our staff.
The definition of our strategic products is the keystone for the work of The definition of our strategic products is the keystone for the work of an Organization like ours. We aim at making our different components work fluently with each other, deploying a strategy which features high standards of productivity, and delivering an outstanding service to the citizens.
Beneficiaries of Fonasa are all the workers who depend on a public or private organization, those who work independently and those who make payments in any legal regime of prevision as a voluntary payer. Also, the affiliates' families are beneficiaries of Fonasa; any pregnant woman even though she is not an affiliate or a beneficiary; any child up to 6 years of age and those people who are destitute or homeless.
A beneficiary is anyone who joins an Isapre, together with the people they include in their health plan (children, spouse, grandparents, etc). The affiliate signs a contract with the Isapre. The basis of the contract is the health care services guaranteed by the AUGE-GES which are extended with a complementary plan in health.
The healthcare insurers are the institutions which provide coverage in health. The Isapres are private enterprises while FONASA is a State entity. Both of them receive 7% of the worker's remuneration to cover for his healthcare plan. Fonasa also sees to those people who lack money to pay for healthcare. In this case, the State finances them through a direct payment to Fonasa.
The healthcare providers are the establishments or professionals who supply healthcare services or actions. They can be either institutional in character, like clinics, hospitals or medical centers, or individual like those people who are enabled by law to provide health-related services, such as doctors, dentists or nurses. The tasks of fostering the steady upgrade of healthcare providers, and their overseeing, within the framework of quality assessment systems, are carried out by the Intendance of Healthcare Providers of the Superintendence of Health's in those matters indicated by law.