Health systems and reformPub Date : 2024-12-31Epub Date: 2024-06-14DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2024.2352885
Elina Dale, Julia Novak, Denys Dmytriiev, Olga Demeshko, Jarno Habicht
{"title":"Resilience of Primary Health Care in Ukraine: Challenges of the Pandemic and War.","authors":"Elina Dale, Julia Novak, Denys Dmytriiev, Olga Demeshko, Jarno Habicht","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2352885","DOIUrl":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2352885","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This commentary examines the resilience of primary health care in Ukraine amidst the ongoing war, drawing a few reflections relevant for other fragile and conflict-affected situations. Using personal observations and various published and unpublished reports, this article outlines five reflections on the strengths, challenges, and necessary adaptations of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Ukraine. It underscores the concerted efforts of the government to maintain public financing of PHC, thereby averting system collapse. The research also highlights the role of strategic adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic in fostering resilience during the war, including the widespread use of digital communication and skills training. The commentary emphasizes the role of managerial and financial autonomy in facilitating quick and efficient organizational response to crisis. It also recognizes emerging challenges, including better access to PHC services among the internally displaced persons, shifting patient profiles and service needs, and challenges related to reliance on local government financing. Finally, the authors advocate for a coordinated approach in humanitarian response, recovery efforts, and development programs to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of PHC in Ukraine.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 1","pages":"2352885"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141322051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Centralized Procurement on Treatment Patterns for Myocardial Infarction and More Principled Utilization of Coronary Stents.","authors":"Weiyan Jian, Shanshan Huo, Lanyue Zhang, Wuping Zhou","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2366167","DOIUrl":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2366167","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reducing the price of expensive medical products through centralized procurement is generally considered an effective way to save public medical resources. Against this background, this paper presents an analysis of the impact of centralized procurement in China by comparing the treatment costs and patterns for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients before and after the introduction of this method of purchasing, with specific reference to the use of coronary stents. We found that, after the implementation of centralized procurement for coronary stents, the total expenditure of AMI cases receiving percutaneous coronary interventions with stent implantation (PCI with stents) dropped by 23.4%. The use rate of PCI with stents decreased by 32.5%, with the most significant decrease being evident in cases in which two stents were used simultaneously (32.9%). Meanwhile, percutaneous coronary interventions with balloon implantation (PCI with balloons) increased by 31.5% and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) increased by 80.3%. Based on these patterns, it can be observed that the use of centralized procurement significantly reduced the profits of the relevant medical manufacturers, forcing them to decrease their marketing investments, weakening their influence on providers, and ultimately resulting in a more principled use of coronary stents. We therefore conclude that, with reference to the data cited, the centralized procurement program led not only to a reduction in procurement prices but also to decreased overuse of these expensive medical products.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 1","pages":"2366167"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141437887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does Public Financial Management Save Life? Evidence from a Quantitative Review of PFM and Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan African Countries.","authors":"Yann Tapsoba, Amna Silim, Kingsley Addai Frimpong, Hélène Barroy","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2023.2298190","DOIUrl":"10.1080/23288604.2023.2298190","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Public financial management (PFM) theory suggests that improvements in the allocation, execution, and monitoring of public funds can result in improved sectoral outcomes, including in health. However, the existing literature on the relationship between PFM quality and health outcomes provides limited empirical documentation and insufficient explanation of the mechanics of that relationship. This paper contributes to the literature by estimating the correlation between PFM quality and health outcomes from a sample of sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2005-2018, using a pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) estimator. The analysis uses Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) scores as proxies for PFM quality. The findings indicate that countries with high-quality PFM tended to have the lowest maternal, under-five and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) mortality. Among the standard PFM dimensions, the one associated with the higher correlation with maternal and under-five mortality was \"<i>predictability and control in budget execution</i>.\" Better PFM quality was significantly associated with a drop in maternal and under-five mortality in countries which allocated a higher proportion of their budget to the health sector. In countries allocating a lower proportion of their budget to health, the correlations between PFM quality and the three mortality indicators were not significant. The negative correlations between PFM quality and maternal and under-five mortality were significant only in countries with more effective governance. These findings support an emphasis on strengthening PFM as a means of improving health service provision and health outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 1","pages":"2298190"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139473124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health systems and reformPub Date : 2024-12-31Epub Date: 2024-01-29DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2023.2298652
Eriko Sase, Christopher Eddy, Richard J Schuster
{"title":"COVID-19 Deaths in Long-Term Care Facilities in the US: An Urgent Call for Equitable and Integrated Health Systems and an All-Hazards Approach to the Next Crisis.","authors":"Eriko Sase, Christopher Eddy, Richard J Schuster","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2023.2298652","DOIUrl":"10.1080/23288604.2023.2298652","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 1","pages":"2298652"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139577183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health systems and reformPub Date : 2024-12-18Epub Date: 2024-11-12DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2024.2397829
Pura Angela Co, Ileana Vîlcu, Denese De Guzman, Eduardo Banzon
{"title":"Staying the Course: Reflections on the Progress and Challenges of the UHC Law in the Philippines.","authors":"Pura Angela Co, Ileana Vîlcu, Denese De Guzman, Eduardo Banzon","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2397829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2024.2397829","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Philippine Universal Health Care (UHC) law enacted in 2019 aimed to address entrenched health system challenges to achieving equitable access to quality health care. This commentary discusses the progress in its implementation to meet its objectives. Some of these health system challenges include overlapping financing roles; weak incentives for integrating health services across local government units (LGUs), the inclusion of the private sector in networks of care, and fragmented primary health care services. The UHC law introduced reforms to transform the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) into a strategic purchaser of health services, expand population coverage, and prioritize comprehensive outpatient and primary care services. Furthermore, the law mandated bolstering subnational health financing through a Special Health Fund (SHF) intended to encourage LGUs to integrate into provincial or city health systems. Pilots of the SHF highlighted opportunities and challenges in pooling, prioritizing, and redistributing resources if local health systems are capacitated. Despite facing implementation challenges, including changing priorities, politics, and lack of resources, the Philippines' experience emphasizes the importance of adaptive leadership, sustained commitment, and effective stakeholder engagement to ensure that these health financing reforms remain objective-oriented. Maximizing the UHC law's potential going forward requires addressing ongoing challenges: sustained resource generation, ensuring effective coverage of the poor, and capacitating local health systems. The journey of the Philippines toward UHC offers valuable insights for global health reformers, underscoring the need for adaptive approaches and active political engagement to sustain and achieve progress toward universal and equitable health care access.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 3","pages":"2397829"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142634217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health systems and reformPub Date : 2024-12-18Epub Date: 2024-11-12DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2024.2422105
Martin Sabignoso, Susan P Sparkes, Alexandra J Earle
{"title":"Using a Small Lever to Achieve Big Outcomes in a Devolved Health System: 20 Years of Programa Sumar in Argentina.","authors":"Martin Sabignoso, Susan P Sparkes, Alexandra J Earle","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2422105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2024.2422105","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Incremental health system transformations towards universal health coverage run the risk of losing sight of the overarching objectives and can lose momentum in the implementation process. Argentina's Programa Sumar is a program born out of response to both urgent and long-standing health challenges. Starting with a relatively small share of the government's budget for health, the Program over the last 20 years has gradually expanded in pursuit of increasing access to quality health care, fostering coherence through policy alignment and coordination in a highly decentralized system, and achieving its performance objectives through conditional transfers linked to results. This commentary reflects on how Programa Sumar created and has sustained its approach to health system transformation and provides four lessons: 1) distribute leadership across levels of government to enhance autonomy, collaboration, and implementation; 2) expand gradually, with a clear long-term vision - Programa Sumar took an incremental approach to expansion in terms of regions, populations, services, and management capacities; 3) ensure evolution through solid and flexible design - the Program needed both the flexibility to adapt strategies to various challenges and a constancy of purpose; and 4) compromise to make progress. The Argentine experience with Programa Sumar shows that strengthening a scheme does not have to mean adopting a fragmented approach. Instead, by implementing Programa Sumar thoughtfully and collaboratively, the reform has developed a solid foundation with the flexibility to adapt across geographies and time, creating the necessary conditions for expansion to and greater coherence across the entire system.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 3","pages":"2422105"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142634218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data Integration of Health Financing Systems as a Critical Enabler for Objective-Oriented Health System Reform: A Scoping Review from India.","authors":"Grace Achungura, Arif Raza, Vijendra Katre, Jaidev Singh Anand, Nirmala Ravishankar, Rathan Kelkar","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2401190","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2024.2401190","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Health financing fragmentation poses a challenge to reforms intended to address system-wide objectives vis-à-vis universal health coverage (UHC). India's experience with publicly subsidized health insurance schemes (PSHIs), such as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and its state adaptations, testify to the challenges inherent in effecting objective-oriented health systems reforms, particularly owing to wide variation in programmatic and operational design. Recent efforts to defragment PSHIs under the aegis of a new government initiative called Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) using, inter alia, a unified information and communication technology (ICT) interface provide important policy lessons. This paper presents a theory of change for the role that ICT systems can play in promoting the objectives of UHC and highlights the early effects of ICT reforms in India on UHC. Holistic and defragmented ICT systems have a positive effect on the processes and operations of government health programs, according to the literature reviewed. Streamlined ICT systems promote equity through the introduction of portability modules, which increase access to services and facilitate stronger transparency and accountability measures by using big data and machine learning for fraud detection. Although reliability issues persist on certain fronts, India's experience with homegrown, incremental reforms to defragment ICT systems for health financing have proven of paramount importance for progressing toward UHC.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 3","pages":"2401190"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142634139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health systems and reformPub Date : 2024-12-18Epub Date: 2024-11-12DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2024.2403527
Parfait Uwaliraye, Valencia Lyle, James Mwanza, Gilbert Biraro
{"title":"Rwanda's Single Project Implementation Unit: An Effective Donor Coordination Platform in the Journey to Achieving Universal Health Coverage.","authors":"Parfait Uwaliraye, Valencia Lyle, James Mwanza, Gilbert Biraro","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2403527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2024.2403527","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Following the devastating 1994 Genocide, the Government of Rwanda and its citizens have worked relentlessly to rebuild the country and reassemble a strong health system. Immediately after the genocide, global development partners sought to swiftly provide aid and support to the country to address urgent health system needs. However, inadequate coordination of the influx of aid resulted in duplicated efforts and inefficient health sector management. In 1998, the Central Public Investments and External Finance Bureau undertook the monitoring and evaluation of donor-funded projects and management of the Public Investment Program. However, the Bureau had limited time, resources, and health system expertise, impeding its efforts to effectively coordinate development partners. To address these inefficiencies, the Rwandan government next adopted a Sector-Wide Approach to coordinate the support of development partners at the sector level. Again, this coordination approach did not adequately consider the health sector's needs. In 2011, the Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) structure was created to coordinate national- and district-level government sectoral initiatives, including ensuring that intended populations were included in planning and decision-making processes. In the health sector, this included a focus on the overall goal of achieving universal health coverage. The health sector SPIU has aided Rwanda in addressing systemic financing issues at all health system levels. Challenges remain; in particular, the SPIU has struggled to align some development partners with the Government's planning calendar to maximize efficiency. It also needs to optimize the use of technology in the health sector to ensure timely decision making.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 3","pages":"2403527"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142634141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Technological Innovation in International Training and Advancing Health Services: Two Cases During the COVID-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Caroline Benski, Aya Goto, Abéline Hantavololona, Vonimboahangy Andrianarisoa, Paulin Ramasy Manjary, Giovanna Stancanelli, Saekhol Bakri, Muflihatul Muniroh, Chihaya Koriyama","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2387646","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2024.2387646","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic limited onsite international activities and challenged us to plan and implement new ways of collaboration. We reviewed our online trials during a three-year period to better understand how to use digital technologies to continue knowledge and skills transfer. In this cross-national case study, we compare two illustrative cases: Japanese experts training Indonesian health professionals for participatory school health education, and Swiss experts training Malagasy health providers for respectful obstetric and newborn emergencies. We first describe our cases, referring to Vargo's framework for summarizing reports on digital technology usage. Second, we draw commonalities between the two cases. Third, gleaned from these experiences during the pandemic, we offer a practical framework for efficient and effective international collaboration using new technologies. For both cases, basic digital technologies, such as online meetings and e-mailing, were used and training sessions were successfully conducted. Trusting relationships between the training and participant groups were in place before the pandemic. This led to enthusiasm for continuing learning even after the pandemic started. Our case comparison presents the usefulness of digital technologies for continuing international collaboration and highlights the importance of human factors, such as trusting relationships and enthusiasm to pursue a shared goal, as the basic condition for success.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 2","pages":"2387646"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142514153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Vaccine Hesitancy and COVID-19 Risk Behaviors Associated with Social Media Use in Japan.","authors":"Shuko Takahashi, Naomi Takahashi, Masaru Nohara, Ichiro Kawachi","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2377070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2024.2377070","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We examined the associations between the use of different types of media and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, as well as risk behaviors of COVID-19 infection, in Japan in late 2021. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted using rapid online surveys of residents in Iwate Prefecture from February 5 to 7, 2021, and from October 1 to 3, 2021. Each individual's risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection was calculated using a quantitative assessment tool (the microCOVID). Intention to get vaccinated for COVID-19 was assessed by self-report. Usage of five types of media for obtaining COVID-related information was assessed: (1) newspapers, (2) television or radio, (3) internet or news apps, (4) social network services (SNS) (excluding LINE, a popular messaging app), and (5) other. Reliance on SNS did not show significant associations with either intention to get vaccinated or engaging in risky behavior for acquiring COVID-19. Although users of the internet or news apps were marginally significantly less likely to engage in high-risk behavior, significant associations between vaccine hesitancy and the usage of the internet or news apps were found in the middle age and elderly groups (OR [95% confidence interval (CI)] in middle age: 1.55 [1.07-2.23]; in elderly; 9.24 [3.28-26.02]). The differential associations between different types of media use and COVID-19 prevention behaviors may assist in preparing for future pandemic outbreaks. One implication for public health risk communication is audience segmentation, such as emphasizing vaccine safety and effectiveness for older audiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"10 2","pages":"2377070"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142514158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}