May 23, 2016 Africa, South-East Asia, Europe Publication

Multi-country purchasing study

The international research consortium RESYST (Resilient & responsive Health Systems) has examined healthcare purchasing functions in some low and middle-income countries to identify factors that influence the ability of healthcare purchasers and other key actors to take strategic actions. The countries included in the study are: Kenya, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam.

From a universal health coverage perspective, this research project focus on purchasing of services from healthcare providers. This core function of healthcare financing must be designed and undertaken strategically to promote quality, efficiency, equity and responsiveness in health service provision and, in doing so, purchasing facilitate progress towards universal health coverage.

The research examined the relationships between purchasers and other groups of actors involved in purchasing mechanisms, including the government, healthcare providers and citizens, so as to understand the various components of strategic purchasing and the organizational environment within which it operates.

The study makes some ...

Oct. 30, 2020 Americas Publication

Financing of integrated health service networks

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean need to increase their public resources in health to expand equitable and efficient access to health. The increase should finance a specific model with proven effectiveness, such as integrated health service networks (IHSN) based on primary health care. The global literature has not paid sufficient attention to financing IHSN; rather, it has focused on isolated facilities and agents, as well as on specific mechanisms. However, in the Region of the Americas, their development has been a necessity for years. An IHSN is a group of health organizations that offers coordinated health interventions and services to a population under their charge and assumes health and economic responsibility for achieving better health outcomes. A system of payment to an IHSN should be aimed at promoting the integrality of care and encouraging a focus on the life cycle of individuals, the articulation and the coordination ...