The meeting of the Society of Social Medicine and Health Care Administration of the Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně was held in Prague on 18th June 2008.The topic of the meeting was a health care reform. After the introductory lecture presented by Jan Holcik (the Chairman of the Society Committee), discussion was held. The participants debated the goals, methods and expected impact of the reform process. The article presents the concise excerpt of the introductory lecture containing the theoretical basis of health care reforms (history, geographical comparison, basic terms and values), vision of good reform and starting points of practical policy.