The past few years have seen a global rise in national health system vulnerability. Nations worldwide grapple with finite resources, financial constraints, and inefficient, sometimes damaging usage by their populations.

The Czech Republic is no exception. With a tax-funded national healthcare system that is largely viewed as „free“ by the Czechs, who have little to no awareness of the system's cost burdens, the Czech national health system faces a future of significant financial strain and loss of critical services due to abuse, funding, and inefficiency.  

With over 65% of the population accessing healthcare through VZP, no other entity private or public has more ability to impact the health system's future positively. And in recent years, VZP has taken on the challenge of creating financial literacy for healthcare within the population.

With over 52,000 e-shops in the country, the highest per capita in Europe… Czechs access nearly every single product or service through e-shops. From price to delivery, Czechs can understand the value of every good and service in the country… except the most important.

Health care.

 The latest campaign, „System Shop(k)“savvily repurposes a national obsession with e-shops and imagines healthcare as an everyday product that can be e-shopped as quickly as clothes, food, or electronics, translating the complex world of healthcare costs by mimicking the platforms, tools, and behaviors so common on those 52,000 sites.

The subversive thought experiment created a case of national sticker shock.

Using the vast financial data that flows through VZP, they were able to atomize the complex cost structures and make them shockingly clear and simple. Prices for everything from disposable plastic vials to complex heart transplants were presented in common retail terms, with a transparent commerce experience across browsing, carting, and check-out.

A full commercial launch of the System Shop e-retailer drove traffic to the site, where Czechs, gradually came to understand, through a familiar e-commerce experience, that the healthcare they take for granted and assume is free, comes with a considerable cost that would be shocking to pay from their pocket.

With messages about early preventive care, lifestyle choices, and responsible behaviors when accessing the system, VZP was able to spark an awakening about the financial vulnerability that the whole country depends on to be healthy and secure.

Driving a simple message. When we take better care of the system, it takes better care of us.