Sustainable primary health care services in rural and remote areas: innovation and evidence

Objective: To highlight how evidence from studies of innovative rural and remote models of service provision can inform global health system reform in order to develop appropriate, accessible and sustainable primary health care (PHC) services to ‘difficult‐to‐service’ communities. Methods: The paper synthesises evidence from remote and rural PHC health service innovations in Australia. Results: There is a strong history of PHC innovation in Australia. Successful health service models are ‘contextualised’ to address diverse conditions. They also require systemic solutions, which address a range of interlinked factors such as governance, leadership and management, adequate funding, infrastructure, service linkages and workforce. An effective systemic approach relies on alignment of changes at the health service level with those in the external policy environment. Ideally, every level of government or health authority needs to agree on policy and funding arrangements for optimal service development. A systematic approach in addressing these health system requirements is also important. Service providers, funders and consumers need to know what type and level of services they can reasonably expect in different community contexts, but there are gaps in agreed indicators and benchmarks for PHC services. In order to be able to comprehensively monitor and evaluate services, as well as benchmarks, we need adequate national information systems. Conclusions: Despite the gaps in our knowledge, we do have a significant amount of information about what works, where and why. At a time of global PHC reform, applying this knowledge will contribute significantly to the development of appropriate, sustainable PHC services and improving access.     

Reform strategies in Georgia and their impact on health care provision in rural areas: evidence from a household survey

The transition resulting from the break-up of the Soviet Union significantly affected the health care systems and population health status in the newly independent States. The available body of evidence suggests that contraction of public resources resulting from economic slowdown has led to the proliferation of out-of-pocket payments and private spending becoming a major source of finance to health service provision to the population. Emerging financial access barriers impede adequate utilization of health care services. Most transition countries embarked on reforming health systems and health care financing in order to tackle this problem. However, little evidence is available about the impact of these reforms on improved access and health outcomes. This paper aims to contribute to the assessment of the impact of health sector reforms in Georgia. It mainly focuses on changes in the patterns of health services utilization in rural areas of the country as a function of implemented changes in health care financing on a primary health care (PHC) level. Our findings are based on a household survey which was carried out during summer 2002. Conclusions derived from the findings could be of interest to policy makers in transitional countries. The paper argues that health financing reforms on the PHC level initiated by the Government of Georgia, aimed at decreasing financial access barriers for the population in the countryside, have rendered initial positive results and improved access to essential PHC services. However, to sustain and enhance this attainments the government should ensure equity, improve the targeting mechanisms for the poor and mobilize additional public and private funds for financing primary care in the country.     

Privatisation & marketisation of post-birth care: the hidden costs for new mothers

Introduction

Health care financing reforms in both China and Vietnam have resulted in greater financial difficulties in accessing health care, especially for the rural poor. Both countries have been developing rural health insurance for decades. This study aims to evaluate and compare equity in access to health care in rural health insurance system in the two countries.

Methods

Household survey and qualitative study were conducted in 6 counties in China and 4 districts in Vietnam. Health insurance policy and its impact on utilization of outpatient and inpatient service were analyzed and compared to measure equity in access to health care.

Results

In China, Health insurance membership had no significant impact on outpatient service utilization, while was associated with higher utilization of inpatient services, especially for the higher income group. Health insurance members in Vietnam had higher utilization rates of both outpatient and inpatient services than the non-members, with higher use among the lower than higher income groups. Qualitative results show that bureaucratic obstacles, low reimbursement rates, and poor service quality were the main barriers for members to use health insurance.

Conclusions

China has achieved high population coverage rate over a short time period, starting with a limited benefit package. However, poor people have less benefit from NCMS in terms of health service utilization. Compared to China, Vietnam health insurance system is doing better in equity in health service utilization within the health insurance members. However with low population coverage, a large proportion of population cannot enjoy the health insurance benefit. Mutual learning would help China and Vietnam address these challenges, and improve their policy design to promote equitable and sustainable health insurance.     

Helping and hindering: perceptions of enablers and barriers to collaboration within a rural South Australian mental health network

Objective: To evaluate clinicians’ perceptions of what helps and hinders the delivery of mental health care across a service network in a rural setting. Design: Qualitative, semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 individuals who work in one rural mental health care service network. Setting: A regional centre in rural South Australia involving representatives of the mental health team, general practice, hospital, community health and nongovernment organisations. Results: Clinicians’ perceptions of barriers and enablers to working within their mental health care network were explored. Participants showed a strong shared commitment to effective mental health care delivery and a good understanding of the services that each offers. Interview data suggested that working relationships between local services could be perceived as stronger when a personal or historical element is recognisable. Similarly, the notion of familiarity and community involvement were perceived as facilitators in this network. A perceived barrier for participants was the failure to attract staff with mental health experience, leading to dependence upon the dedication and commitment of existing service providers. Conclusions: Collaboration is especially necessary in rural areas, where access to health care services is known to be difficult. The informality of relationships between service providers was shown to be the main facilitator in the network. This is both a strength as it promotes the communication between services and service providers that is essential for successful collaboration, yet is also a threat to the sustainability of the network based on the difficulties of staff recruitment and retention to rural settings.     

Access to Specialty Health Care for Rural American Indians in Two States

ABSTRACT:  Context: The Indian Health Service (IHS), whose per capita expenditure for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) health services is about half that of the US civilian population, is the only source of health care funding for many rural AI/ANs. Specialty services, largely funded through contracts with outside practitioners, may be limited by low IHS funding levels. Purpose: To examine specialty service access among rural Indian populations in two states. Methods: A 31-item mail survey addressing perceived access to specialty physicians, barriers to access, and access to non-physician clinical services was sent to 106 primary care providers in rural Indian health clinics in Montana and New Mexico (overall response rate 60.4%) and 95 primary care providers in rural non-Indian clinics within 25 miles of the Indian clinics (overall response rate 57.9%). Findings: Substantial proportions of rural Indian clinic providers in both states reported fair or poor non-emergent specialty service access for their patients. Montana's rural Indian clinic providers reported poorer patient access to specialty care than rural non-Indian clinic providers, while New Mexico's rural Indian and non-Indian providers reported comparable access. Indian clinic providers in both states most frequently cited financial barriers to specialty care. Indian clinic providers reported better access to most non-physician services than non-Indian clinic providers. Conclusions: Reported limitations in specialty care access for rural Indian clinic patients appear to be influenced by financial constraints. Health care systems factors may play a role in perceived differences in specialty access between rural Indian and non-Indian clinic patients.     

Expansion of rural health care and the use of maternal services in Nepal

In order to improve living standards among the rural poor, the government of Nepal has invested heavily in improving the provision of health care services in rural areas. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of this investment on the use of maternal health care services. A bivariate probit model is used to estimate the effect of physical access to government health care services, along with individual-, household-, and other location-specific characteristics, on the use of prenatal care and birth delivery care. The results of the estimation are used to carry out policy simulations that assess the magnitude of the impact of improvements in health care availability on service utilization. The results indicate that physical access to a health care facility, as it is currently structured in rural areas, has a statistically significant but modest impact on the use of maternal services.     

Identifying challenges and barriers in the delivery of primary healthcare at the district level: a study in one Thai province

In 2001, the universal health coverage policy was adopted by Thailand with primary healthcare (PHC) as the major focus of the policy. In order to understand the structural and institutional factors affecting the implementation of PHC in rural Thailand, a qualitative study, utilising individual interviews with national and provincial policy decision makers, community health directors, heads of hospital primary care units, chiefs of district health offices, heads of health centres and community representatives, from one rural province was undertaken. Findings showed that the sustainability of PHC service provision under the administration of community hospitals is problematic as barriers exist at the policy and operational levels and access to PHC for all citizens may not be achieved until these barriers are addressed. Furthermore, although PHC needs to be acknowledged and implemented by all stakeholders within the health industry and government, the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in health services management at the district level need to be clarified. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

农村基层医疗卫生机构视力检查服务提供与利用

目的:分析农村基层医疗卫生机构视力检查服务的可及性对居民视力检查服务利用的影响。方法:利用医疗卫生机构和农户调查数据,采用描述统计和多元回归分析。结果:样本中33.2%的居民自报告视力不良,22.1%的居民曾做过视力检查,86%样本乡镇的卫生院和44%样本村的村卫生室可以提供视力检查服务;回归结果显示,乡镇卫生院提供视力检查服务将显著增加居民进行视力检查的可能性,但村卫生室是否提供视力检查服务对居民视力检查的利用没有显著影响。结论:农村居民对视力检查服务需求很大,但是利用率低。基层医疗卫生机构服务供给不足可能是导致农村居民服务利用率低的重要因素。建议国家继续推进基本公共卫生服务,加强基层医疗卫生服务机构开展基本视力检查的能力,促进农村居民对视力检查服务的利用,改善农村居民视力健康水平。     

Access to health care in a system transition: the case of Bulgaria

OBJECTIVE: Throughout the 1990s, the Soviet-style model in central and eastern Europe that provided free health services has been subject to radical reforms. Socio-economic inequalities have also increased but there is little information on inequalities in health care utilization. This paper examines the pattern of illness behaviour in Bulgaria, seeking evidence of inequalities in access to services and eliciting users' pathways to care. DESIGN: Analysis drew on a representative population survey in Bulgaria (1997). The financial determinants of service use were tested in a multivariate model adjusted first for age, and then for age, marital status and self-reported health. In-depth interviews with users and providers addressed pathways to care, use of connections and other informal strategies to obtain care. RESULTS: As expected, rates of illness vary with income, with highest rates among the poor. After adjustment for illness, consultation rates are relatively equal across income levels, with the exception of worse-off women who tend to consult more. For first contact, there are few differences according to income, with the better off preferring secondary level. Pathways slightly differ, with women more often treated in primary care. Private sector utilization is low. Qualitative research reveals well-established strategies to obtain more advanced care, including use of connections, informal payments and use of emergency services. CONCLUSIONS: An apparent lack of inequalities in access to care conceals a more complex picture in which income and gender influence the pathways taken through the system.     

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.     

Cross-border issues in the provision of health services: are we moving towards a European health care policy?

This paper analyses likely implications of two recent European Court rulings on the provision of health care across borders within the European Union. We argue that the two cases have fundamental implications for the provision of health services as free access to care across borders conflicts with the principle of subsidiarity. We then explore the potential short- and long-term implications of the two cases for all involved in the provision of health services, namely patients, different types of purchasers and different types of providers. We argue that the short-term implications relating to freedom to provide goods and services may lead to re-thinking how services are financed and provided. At the same time, the rulings may lead to greater transparency in health services, with attempts to compare efficiency and prices between providers in different countries. Consumers may benefit directly by gaining access to a product or service that is not available in their country of residence or is available but at a higher cost or lower quality. They may also benefit indirectly in the long term, through greater transparency and efficiency.     

Midwifery provision in two districts in Indonesia: how well are rural areas served?

Attention has focused recently on the importance of adequate and equitable provision of health personnel to raise levels of skilled attendance at delivery and thereby reduce maternal mortality. Indonesia has a village-based midwife programme that was intended to increase the rate of professional delivery care and redress the urban/rural imbalance in service provision by posting a trained midwife in every village in the country. We present findings on the distribution of midwifery provision in our study area: 10% of villages do not have a midwife but a nurse as a midwifery provider; there is a deficit in midwife density in remote villages compared with urban areas; those assigned to remote areas are less experienced; midwives manage few births and this may compromise their capacity to maintain professional skills; over 90% of non-hospital deliveries take place in the woman's (64%) or the midwife's (28%) home; three-quarters of midwives did not make regular use of the fee exemption scheme; midwives who live in their assigned village spend more days per month on clinical work there. We conclude that adequate provider density is an important factor in effective health care and that efforts should be made to redress the imbalance in provision, but that this can only contribute to reducing maternal mortality in the context of a supportive professional environment and timely access to emergency obstetric care.     

Rural, Urban and Suburban Comparisons of Preventive Services in Family Practice Clinics

Numerous studies have compared health services provided in rural and urban areas, and overall they have found that utilization is lower in rural areas. A significant factor in lower utilization is that rural residents have less access to health services. Much less is known about rural and urban utilization differences once a patient has access to a service provider. This paper focuses on preventive services received when a patient is already in a clinic. Using data from an in-depth qualitative study of 16 family practice clinics in Nebraska, comparisons of physician-specific preventive service rates are made across three geographic categories: rural, urban and suburban. Results from a one-way multivariate analysis of variance show that preventive services rates for nine services examined were as high or higher in rural areas, suggesting that rural health services do not lag for patients with access.     

Growing old before growing rich: inequality in health service utilization among the mid-aged and elderly in Gansu and Zhejiang Provinces, China

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: China's recent growth in income has been unequally distributed, resulting in an unusually rapid retreat from relative income equality, which has impacted negatively on health services access. There exists a significant gap between health care utilization in rural and urban areas and inequality in health care access due to differences in socioeconomic status is increasing. We investigate inequality in service utilization among the mid-aged and elderly, with a special attention of health insurance. METHODS: This paper measures the income-related inequality and horizontal inequity in inpatient and outpatient health care utilization among the mid-aged and elderly in two provinces of China. The data for this study come from the pilot survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in Gansu and Zhejiang. Concentration Index (CI) and its decomposition approach were deployed to reflect inequality degree and explore the source of these inequalities. RESULTS: There is a pro-rich inequality in the probability of receiving health service utilization in Gansu (CI outpatient = 0.067; CI inpatient = 0.011) and outpatient for Zhejiang (CI = 0.016), but a pro-poor inequality in inpatient utilization in Zhejiang (CI = -0.090). All the Horizontal Inequity Indices (HI) are positive. Income was the dominant factor in health care utilization for out-patient in Gansu (40.3 percent) and Zhejiang (55.5 percent). The non-need factors' contribution to inequity in Gansu and Zhejiang outpatient care had the same pattern across the two provinces, with the factors evenly split between pro-rich and pro-poor biases. The insurance schemes were strongly pro-rich, except New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) in Zhejiang. CONCLUSIONS: For the middle-aged and elderly, there is a strong pro-rich inequality of health care utilization in both provinces. Income was the most important factor in outpatient care in both provinces, but access to inpatient care was driven by a mix of income, need and non-need factors that significantly differed across and within the two provinces. These differences were the result of different levels of health care provision, different out-of-pocket expenses for health care and different access to and coverage of health insurance for rural and urban families. To address health care utilization inequality, China will need to reduce the unequal distribution of income and expand the coverage of its health insurance schemes.     

Determinants of health status and the influence of primary health care services in Latin America, 1990-98

Primary health care (PHC) services have been advocated as a means by which less developed countries may improve the health of their populations even in the face of poverty, low levels of literacy, poor nutrition and other factors that negatively influence health status. Using aggregated data from the World Bank and UNICEF this study examined which factors, both within the health care system and outside of it, are associated with under-5 mortality rates in 22 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean during the 1990s. In a multivariate analysis using generalized estimating equations for repeated measures, five factors were found to be independent predictors of lower under-5 mortality rates (U5MRs). These were vaccination levels, female literacy, the use of oral rehydration therapy, access to safe water and GNP per capita. When the magnitude of these associations were assessed, higher levels of GNP per capita was found to be very weakly associated with lower U5MRs, compared with female literacy and vaccination rates. These findings suggest that government policies which focus only on promoting economic growth, while not making important investments in PHC services, female education and access to safe water are unlikely to see large improvements in health status.     

Issues Surrounding the Distribution and Utilization of Nurse Nonphysician Providers in Rural America*

The cost and quality of health care is an ever-increasing concern. Responsible people are looking for logical solutions. One solution is the increased involvement of nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives in the delivery of health care services to patients. This paper reviews the supply, education, and responsibilities of nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, government studies of the need for nonphysician providers, the cost-effectiveness of health care delivered by nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, and impediments to practice.     

贫困农村妇女生殖道感染服务提供与利用研究

目的：分析贫困农村妇女对生殖道感染服务的利用以及服务提供情况。方法：采用问卷调查，体检调查，个人深入访谈和小组集中讨论会等定量和定性研究方法。结果：乡级卫生机构资源利用不合理，村卫生室设备及人员均缺乏，个体诊所必需的诊断设备缺乏；贫困农村妇女对生殖道感染服务需要高，但利用率低，经济困难、生殖道感染知识缺乏、传统观念的束缚以及服务质量低下是影响妇女利用生殖道感染诊治服务的主要原因。结论：提高妇女对RTIs服务的可及性；建议对基层服务提供者加强业务培训；对妇女进行生殖道感染知识的健康教育。     

Issues Surrounding the Distribution and Utilization of Nurse Nonphysician Providers in Rural America*

ABSTRACT: The cost and quality of health care is an ever-increasing concern. Responsible people are looking for logical solutions. One solution is the increased involvement of nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives in the delivery of health care services to patients. This paper reviews the supply, education, and responsibilities of nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, government studies of the need for nonphysician providers, the cost-effectiveness of health care delivered by nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, and impediments to practice.     

Urban Aboriginal mobility in Canada: Examining the association with health care utilization

In recent decades, Indigenous peoples across the globe have become increasingly urbanized. Growing urbanization has been associated with high rates of geographic mobility between rural areas and cities, as well as within cities. In Canada, over 54 percent of Aboriginal peoples are urban and change their place of residence at a higher rate than the non-Aboriginal population. High rates of mobility may affect the delivery and use of health services. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between urban Aboriginal peoples' mobility and conventional (physician/nurse) as well as traditional (traditional healer) health service use in two distinct Canadian cities: Toronto and Winnipeg. Using data from Statistics Canada's 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, this analysis demonstrates that mobility is a significant predisposing correlate of health service use and that the impact of mobility on health care use varies by urban setting. In Toronto, urban newcomers were more likely to use a physician or nurse compared to long-term residents. This was in direct contrast to the effect of residency on physician and nurse use in Winnipeg. In Toronto, urban newcomers were less likely to use a traditional healer than long-term residents, indicating that traditional healing may represent an unmet health care need. The results demonstrate that distinct urban settings differentially influence patterns of health service utilization for mobile Aboriginal peoples. This has important implications for how health services are planned and delivered to urban Aboriginal movers on a local, and potentially global, scale.