Author/s: Ann Canavan, Jurriën Toonen, Riku Elovainio
In this literature review, we will explore incentive based approaches adopted in developing countries over the past decade, with a focus on the contribution of Performance Based Financing (PBF) to productivity, quality of health care and ultimately on the performance of health providers.
Performance-based payment (PBP) is increasingly advocated as a way to improve the performance of health systems in low-income countries. This study conducted a systematic review of the current literature on this topic and found that while it is a popular term, there was little consensus about the meaning or the use of the concept of PBP. Significant weaknesses in the current evidence base on the success of PBP initiatives were also found.
Author/s: Jon Christianson, Sheila Leatherman, Kim Sutherland
This report updates a 2007 review of international studies which examine the effect of financial incentives on the behaviour of healthcare organisations and individuals in relation to quality of care they delivery to consumers. The authors use rigorous search strategies to highlight the key empirical studies which examine the links between financing incentives, health care provider and quality improvements.
This report consists of an overview of systematic reviews and a critical appraisal of four evaluations of RBF schemes in the health sector in low and middle-income countries (LMIC).
Ten systematic reviews that met the inclusion criteria for this report were summarised. In addition, four evaluations of RBF schemes in LMIC were critically appraised, including financial incentives targeted at patients, individual providers, organisations, and governments.
Author/s: Logan Brenzel, Amie Batson, Robert Hecht
This article appeared in the IMF's quarterly magazine Finance & Development in March 2004.
Developing countries and their international partners are
increasingly adopting methods of financing health care activities in
developing countries that link the availability of funding to concrete,
measurable results on the ground. Such “performance-based” financing was advocated a decade ago in the World Bank’s 1993 World Development Report—Investing in Health and other policy documents in the early 1990s, although relatively little practical experience with this type of financing was available. Since then, much experimentation has taken place, and we are seeing with growing clarity the important potential—as well as the challenges—of performance-based financing for achieving national and global health goals.
Ministers of Finance in many developing countries are increasingly reluctant to expand health budgets unless they can see a clear link to better health outcomes, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
