Essential national health research in developing countries: Health-care financing and the quality of care

New research integrating expertise in financing and quality assurance is critical at times when resource constraints threaten to undermine the sustainability of effective healthcare services. Cost-effectiveness is related to the quality of the health-care intervention. In the economics literature, health-care demand studies generally indicate that quality is an important determinant of utilization patterns, but do not clearly identify those components of quality most important to the patient. On the supply side, cost analyses have not closely examined cost-quality tradeoffs, nor the net costs of quality. Policy makers must determine the affordability of cost-recovery mechanisms, which include both increases in price and quality. Further research should identify those aspects of quality which will maximize effectiveness at the least cost, thus helping to promote the financial sustainability of the health service.     

Costing maternal health services in South Tanzania

The following paper presents the methodology and results of a costing exercise of maternal health services in Tanzania. The main objective of this study was to determine the actual costs of antenatal and obstetric care in different health institutions in a district in Tanzania as a basis of more efficient resource allocation. A costing tool was developed that allows the calculation of costs of service units, such as deliveries and antenatal care, and separates these costs from the costs of other services. Time consumed by each activity was used as an allocation key. For that purpose, we recorded the personnel consumption with different time-study methodologies. This approach was tested and implemented in Mtwara Urban District, South Tanzania. The results were analyzed by a spreadsheet program. The paper presents average costs for different costing units of maternal care. Among other findings, we found that the cost of a normal vaginal delivery is US $12.30 in a dispensary and US $6.30 in the hospital—a result that needs explanation, as usually one would expect that hospitals are more cost-intensive than first-line facilities. However, dispensaries are grossly underutilized so that the costs per service unit are rather high. The cost for surgical delivery (only in hospitals) was found to be US $69.26 and the average cost per antenatal care consultation (only at dispensaries) was US $2.50. We conclude that improved planning of elective services is a prerequisite for more effective and efficient use of personnel resources. In addition, the definition of medically and economically sound standards, in particular staffing standards, is critical to make cost analysis an effective management tool to guide rational resource allocation.     

发展中国家的医疗卫生服务体系

考察了发展中国家的卫生筹资和服务提供体系,并认为发展中国家需要扩大医疗保障覆盖面,需要重新关注初级卫生保健和公共卫生,只有这样才能不断完善其卫生体系。     

Costs of maternal health care services in three anglophone African countries

This paper is a synthesis of a case study of provider and consumer costs, along with selected quality indicators, for six maternal health services provided at one public hospital, one mission hospital, one public health centre and one mission centre, in Uganda, Malawi and Ghana. The study examines the costs of providing the services in a selected number of facilities in order to examine the reasons behind cost differences, assess the efficiency of service delivery, and determine whether management improvements might achieve cost savings without hurting quality. This assessment is important to African countries with ambitious goals for improving maternal health but scarce public health resources and limited government budgets. The study also evaluates the costs that consumers pay to use the maternal health services, along with the contribution that revenues from fees for services make to recovering health facility costs. The authors find that costs differ between hospitals and health centres as well as among mission and public facilities in the study sample. The variation is explained by differences in the role of the facility, use and availability of materials and equipment, number and level of personnel delivering services, and utilization levels of services. The report concludes with several policy implications for improvements in efficiency, financing options and consumer costs.     

Health care financing in Hong Kong: a case for tax‐based financing

With the new government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region currently conducting a review of Hong Kong's health care financing system, this article argues that the existing tax‐based system not only works well at present, but is also sustainable in the future. The performance of the system is analysed in terms of cost, health outcomes and access. The arguments for change are discussed, and the case for maintaining the status quo is presented. The author concludes that the way forward would be to fine tune the existing system rather than to replace it with other systems which are known to have higher transaction costs and more serious supply‐side moral hazards. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of vouchers on the use and quality of health care in developing countries: A systematic review

Abstract

One approach to delivering healthcare in developing countries is through voucher programmes, where vouchers are distributed to a targeted population for free or subsidised health care. Using inclusion/exclusion criteria, a search of databases, key journals and websites review was conducted in October 2010. A narrative synthesis approach was taken to summarise and analyse five outcome categories: targeting, utilisation, cost efficiency, quality and health outcomes. Sub-group and sensitivity analyses were also performed. A total of 24 studies evaluating 16 health voucher programmes were identified. The findings from 64 outcome variables indicates: modest evidence that vouchers effectively target specific populations; insufficient evidence to determine whether vouchers deliver healthcare efficiently; robust evidence that vouchers increase utilisation; modest evidence that vouchers improve quality; no evidence that vouchers have an impact on health outcomes; however, this last conclusion was found to be unstable in a sensitivity analysis. The results in the areas of targeting, utilisation and quality indicate that vouchers have a positive effect on health service delivery. The subsequent link that they improve health was found to be unstable from the data analysed; another finding of a positive effect would result in robust evidence. Vouchers are still new and the number of published studies is limiting.     

Determinants of maternal immunization in developing countries

BackgroundMaternal immunization is an effective intervention to protect newborns and young infants from infections when their immune response is immature. Tetanus toxoid vaccination of pregnant women is the most widely implemented maternal vaccine in developing countries where neonatal mortality is the highest. We identified barriers to maternal tetanus vaccination in developing African and Asian countries to identify means of improving maternal immunization platforms in these countries.MethodWe categorized barriers into health system, health care provider and patient barriers to maternal tetanus immunization and conducted a literature review on each category. Due to limited literature from Africa, we conducted a pilot survey of health care providers in Malawi on barriers they experience in immunizing pregnant women.ResultsThe major barriers of the health system are due to inadequate financial and human resources which translate to inadequate vaccination services delivery and logistics management. Health care providers are limited by poor attendance of Antenatal Care and inadequate knowledge on vaccinating pregnant women. Patient barriers are due to lack of education and knowledge on pregnancy immunization and socioeconomic factors such as low income and high parity.ConclusionThere are several factors that affect maternal tetanus immunization. Increasing knowledge in health care providers and patients, increasing antenatal care attendance and outreach activities will aid the uptake of maternal immunization. Health system barriers are more difficult to address requiring an improvement of overall immunization services. Further analyses of maternal immunization specific barriers and the means of addressing them are required to strengthen the existing program and provide a more efficient delivery system for additional maternal vaccines.     

Health care financing and health outcomes in Pacific Island countries

This paper provides empirical evidence on the relationship betweenper capita public health expenditure and three measures of healthoutcomes (infant and under-five mortality rates and crude deathrates) using cross-country data from seven Pacific Island countriesfor selected years between 1990 and 2002. The results of thefixed-effects estimation procedure, correcting for AR(1) errors,provide strong evidence that per capita health expenditure isan important factor in determining health outcomes. The elasticityof the infant mortality rate with respect to per capita healthexpenditure is –0.66. Based on this elasticity, a 10%increase in per capita health expenditure means that a countrysuch as Papua New Guinea, with a high infant mortality rate,would see a reduction of 3.6 infant deaths per 1000 live births,with an average reduction of 2.0 infant deaths per 1000 livebirths for the Pacific Island countries. The empirical resultsalso provide strong evidence that per capita incomes and immunizationare additional core factors that determine health outcomes.Some policy implications are drawn.     

浙江省卫生总费用筹集与医疗保障机制

卫生总费用的筹集直接关系到医疗保障机制的改革与完善,近年来随着国民经济的发展和人民生活水平的提高,浙江省卫生总费用筹资机制不断完善,提升了公民医疗保障水平,但也存在一些问题。本文通过浙江省卫生总费用筹集现状和问题分析,提出解决对策,以促进浙江省医疗保障机制的进一步完善。     

Context matters: Successes and challenges of intrapartum care scale-up in four districts of Afghanistan

Reducing preventable maternal mortality and achieving Sustainable Development Goal targets for 2030 will require increased investment in improving access to quality health services in fragile and conflict-affected states. This study explores the conditions that affect availability and utilisation of intrapartum care services in four districts of Afghanistan where mortality studies were conducted in 2002 and 2011. Information on changes in each district was collected through interviews with community members; service providers; and district, provincial and national officials. This information was then triangulated with programme and policy documentation to identify factors that affect the coverage of safe delivery and emergency obstetric care services. Comparison of barriers to maternal health service coverage across the four districts highlights the complexities of national health policy planning and resource allocation in Afghanistan, and provides examples of the types of challenges that must be addressed to extend the reach of life-saving maternal health interventions to women in fragile and conflict-affected states. Findings suggest that improvements in service coverage must be measured at a sub-national level, and context-specific service delivery models may be needed to effectively scale up intrapartum care services in extremely remote or insecure settings.     

Safer Muslim motherhood: Social conditions and maternal mortality in the Muslim world

The greatest variation in maternal mortality is among poor countries and wealthy countries that rely on emergency obstetric technology to save a woman’s life during childbirth. However, substantial variation in maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) exists within and among poor countries with uneven access to advanced obstetric services. This article examines MMRs across the Muslim world and compares the impact of national wealth, female education, and skilled birth attendants on maternal mortality. Understanding how poor countries have lowered MMRs without access to expensive obstetric technologies suggests that certain social variables may act protectively to reduce the maternal risk for life-threatening obstetric complications that would require emergency obstetric care.     

海南省基本医疗卫生服务均等化分析

目的：了解海南省市县际间基本医疗卫生服务均等化现状,为促进全省基本医疗卫生服务均等化建设提供参考。方法：利用海南省、我国及经合组织国家等卫生统计数据,对海南省市县际间基本医疗卫生服务均等化指标进行分析。结果：资源分布均等化方面,机构地理可及性相差较大,医护比为1∶1.2,资源分布的基尼系数大于0.3;筹资均等化方面,人均医疗保健支出低于全国,人均政府卫生支出额高的市县主要集中在各区域的中心,多数市县新农合住院实际补偿比在50%左右;服务提供均等化方面,多数市县床位使用率低于90%,药费占比在30%～40%,地区之间孕产妇及儿童健康管理差距较小,但管理率普遍低于全国。结论：基本医疗卫生服务资源分布与政治、经济等条件有关,筹资机制不健全、基本医疗和公共卫生服务提供能力低影响了基本医疗卫生服务的质量。建议合理布局基本医疗卫生服务资源,加大卫生筹资力度,提高基本医疗卫生服务提供能力。     

Health workforce in the United Arab Emirates: analytic point of view

A strong health system is impossible without health workers who are the ultimate resource. Money and medical supplies are needed, but these inputs require an efficient workforce. Challenges with respect to human resources vary greatly between and within countries, and are associated with the political, economical, cultural and societal context of a country. Moreover, the gaps in the workforce do not generally relate to doctors but to nurses and other classes of health worker who make up the bulk of health workforce. The difficulties caused by low staff numbers are compounded by morale problems, skill imbalances and geographical maldistribution. This paper will discuss how it is difficult for the United Arab Emirates (UAE, a Middle East federation country) to wrestle effectively with the demands of a good health system, exploring how they lack the basis of health systems—motivated, trained and supported people. Additionally, we looked at how the UAE health system further challenged by negative work environment, and weak knowledge‐base, out‐migration and inadequate investment. At the end of our discussion, we are providing some suggestions to manage human resource problems in the UAE. Highlighting how a national workforce strategic plan is important to guide investments in human resources as the core component of strengthening the UAE national health system. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equity, governance and financing after health care reform: lessons from Mexico

To determine, from the perspective of providers, community leaders and users of health services, equity, governance and health financing outcomes of the Mexican health system reform.Cross-sectional study oriented towards the qualitative analysis of financing, governance and equity indicators for the uninsured population. Taking into account feasibility, as well as political and technical criteria, six Mexican states were selected as study populations and a qualitative research was conducted during 2004-2006. Two hundred and forty in-depth interviews were applied, in all selected states, to 60 decision-makers, including medical and administrative personnel; 60 service providers at health centres; 60 representatives of civil organizations, including municipal representatives and, finally, 60 members of health committees and users of services at second and first levels of care units. The analysis of interviews was performed using ATLAS-Ti software. An outcome mapping of health reform was developed. For political actors, Mexican health system reform has not modified dependence on the central level; ignorance about reform strategies and lack of participation in the search for financial resources to finance health systems were evidenced. Also, in all states under study, community leaders and users of services reported the need to improve an effective accountability system at both municipal and state levels. Health strategies for equity, governance and financing do not have adequate mechanisms to promote participation from all social actors. Improving this situation is a very important goal in the Mexican health democratization process, in the context of health care reform. There are relevant positive and negative effects of the reform on equity, governance and financing in health. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of lessons learned in Mexico and the usefulness of the main strengths and weaknesses, as relevant evidences for other middle-income countries which are designing, implementing and evaluating reform strategies in order to achieve equity in resource allocation, good levels of governance and a greater financial protection in health.     

The socio-economic determinants of maternal health care utilization in Turkey

The purpose of this study is to investigate the individual-, household- and community-level factors that affect women's use of maternal health care services in Turkey. The data used for the study come from the 1993 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS), a nationally representative survey of ever married women 15 to 49 years of age. In order to assess the impact of socio-economic factors on maternal health care utilization, we use logistical regression techniques to estimate models of the prenatal care use and birth delivery assistance among women who have had at least one birth in the three years prior to the survey. Separate models are also estimated for urban and rural women. The results indicate that educational attainment, parity level, health insurance coverage, ethnicity, household wealth and geographic region are statistically significant factors that affect the use of health care services thought essential to reduce infant and child mortality rates. The results of the model are used to provide insights for both micro- and macro-level planning of maternal health service delivery.     

西藏农牧区妇女孕产期保健现状分析

目的 了解西藏自治区农牧区妇女孕产期保健现状.方法 采用横断面调查方法,分层随机抽样,入户访问了1512名3岁以下儿童的母亲.结果 妇女产前检查覆盖率为77.6%,平均产前检查次数为3.89次,5次以上产前检查率为26.3%,住院分娩率为40 4%,83.9%的妇女接受过孕期卫生保健宣传教育,产后访视的比例为66.2%.家庭有无副业收入、是否牧区、个人卫生状况、产前保健宣传教育、动员住院分娩、孕期保健知识等是影响是否进行产前检查的主要因素.结论 该地区妇女孕产期保健状况有显著改善,但目前产前检查次数仍然偏低,住院分娩率偏低,缺乏孕产期保健常识是影响孕产期保健利用的主要因素之一.建议加强健康教育,普及孕期卫生保健知识,促进产前保健和住院分娩.     

A comparative analysis of the use of maternal health services between teenagers and older mothers in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)

This paper uses Demographic and Health Surveys data from 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to examine the use of maternal health services by teenagers. A comparison of maternal health care between teenagers and older women, based on bivariate analysis shows little variation in maternal health care by age. However, after controlling for the effect of background factors such as parity, premarital births, educational attainment and urban/rural residence in a multivariate analysis, there is evidence that teenagers have poorer maternal health care than older women with similar background characteristics. The results from multilevel logistic models applied to pooled data across countries show that teenagers are generally more likely to receive inadequate antenatal care and have non-professional deliveries. An examination of country-level variations shows significant differences in the levels of maternal health care across countries. However, there is no evidence of significant variations across countries in the observed patterns of maternal health care by maternal age. This suggests that the observed patterns by maternal age are generalizable across the sub-Saharan Africa region.     

The effectiveness of contracting-out primary health care services in developing countries: a review of the evidence

The purpose of this study is to review the research literature on the effectiveness of contracting-out of primary health care services and its impact on both programme and health systems performance in low- and middle-income countries. Due to the heightened interest in improving accountability relationships in the health sector and in rapidly scaling up priority interventions, there is an increasing amount of interest in and experimentation with contracting-out. Overall, while the review of the selected studies suggests that contracting-out has in many cases improved access to services, the effects on other performance dimensions such as equity, quality and efficiency are often unknown. Moreover, little is known about the system-wide effects of contracting-out, which could be either positive or negative. Although the study results leave open the question of how contracting-out can be used as a policy tool to improve overall health system performance, the results indicate that the context in which contracting-out is implemented and the design features of the interventions are likely to greatly influence the chances for success.