{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T04:59:23Z","timestamp":1785387563958,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aims to empirically investigate the relationships between governance quality and health outcomes, considering the mediating role of healthcare funding.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The Gaussian Graphical Models (GGM) and the Ward method (hierarchical clustering) were used to investigate the relationship between good governance and health status, considering health expenditure as a key pathway to bridge health outcomes. This study comprises panel data covering the period from 2008 to 2024.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Good quality of public governance demonstrates a stronger positive impact on the health status at higher level of health financing, with this effect diminishing progressively across the distribution to lower allocation of health expenditures by the governments. Health financing exhibits a consistently robust positive relationship with the health status throughout the obtained interlinkages, remaining statistically significant across all inferences examined. The results display differences among the cross-country analysis that highlight the need to strengthen the governance administrative framework and ensure efficient management of financial resources to support the performance of healthcare systems. Furthermore, the results suggest the importance of implementing public strategies tailored to the emerging needs of the population and to focus on the developing health systems by supporting prevention, the digitalization of medical services, reduce health-related costs, and improving the population\u2019s access to quality medical services.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Moreover, streamlining the mechanisms for the allocation of financial resources can help reduce disparities between countries and improve the performance of healthcare systems. The findings contribute to the existing specialized body of knowledge on sustainable health systems and provide practical guidance for policymakers seeking to promote adapted health policies as regards the transition risk while safeguarding good health of the citizens.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1925604","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T04:21:20Z","timestamp":1785385280000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Uncovering hidden patterns: How good governance and health outcomes are shaped by the public healthcare funding?"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Alexandra-M\u0103d\u0103lina","family":"\u021a\u0103ran","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Finance, Information System and Business Modelling, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara","place":["Timisoara, Romania"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mihaela","family":"Diaconu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara","place":["Timisoara, Romania"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anamaria","family":"Vasiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara","place":["Timisoara, Romania"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marilen-Gabriel","family":"Pirtea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Finance, Information System and Business Modelling, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara","place":["Timisoara, Romania"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"465","DOI":"10.1016\/j.healthpol.2021.10.007","article-title":"Early health system responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mediterranean countries: a tale of successes and challenges","volume":"126","author":"Waitzberg","year":"2021","journal-title":"Health Policy"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"154","DOI":"10.1007\/s11524-007-9174-6","article-title":"Emerging strategies for healthy urban governance","volume":"84","author":"Burris","year":"2007","journal-title":"J Urban Health"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"766","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1150198","article-title":"Health and urban living","volume":"319","author":"Dye","year":"2008","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1186\/1755-7682-4-11","article-title":"The essence of governance in health development","volume":"4","author":"Kirigia","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int Arch Med"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"341","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144708","article-title":"Urban health: evidence, challenges, and directions","volume":"26","author":"Galea","year":"2005","journal-title":"Annu Rev Public Health"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"551","DOI":"10.1177\/0956247808096128","article-title":"Towards action on social determinants for health equity in urban settings","volume":"20","author":"Kjellstrom","year":"2008","journal-title":"Environ Urban"},{"key":"ref7","author":"Varadi","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"251","DOI":"10.2478\/sbe-2022-0059","article-title":"Does technical and democratic governance have the potential to enhance health spending allocations?","volume":"17","author":"V\u0103tavu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Stud Bus Econ"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e20251","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2023.e20251","article-title":"What is the role of institutional quality in health outcomes? 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