Integrating the HIV Response at the Systems LevelHFG Project
The global response to combat the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic scaled up considerably in the early 2000s with the establishment of key institutions, notably the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) (AIDS.gov 2018). In response to high global rates of AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, the internationally supported rapid scale-up of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention, testing, treatment, and drug development is widely credited with curtailing a global epidemic, thereby limiting the human and financial costs of the virus (Bekker et al. 2018). Still the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 1.8 million people were infected with HIV in 2017, and there are nearly 37 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) worldwide (UNAIDS 2018a). In many countries, financing and governance of HIV services is transitioning from international donors to national governments.
This funding transition has major implications for the governance, management, and implementation of the HIV response. Governments undergoing funding transitions for the HIV response are integrating aspects of the response into systems and processes for governing, managing, financing, and delivering other essential
health services. But this phenomenon has not been systematically studied, and documentation on how governments achieve this is limited. Understanding how some governments are navigating an HIV funding transition may help other countries and the global health community to better design and plan future or ongoing efforts to transition national HIV responses to domestic resources for health. USAID’s HFG project is helping to fill this gap. In particular, this study helps build an evidence base by exploring whether and how four countries in the process of transitioning to greater domestic financing of their HIV response are integrating HIV programming with local systems and processes for other essential health services.
This study applies the concept of system integration to examine the alignment of rules, policies, and support systems to address HIV and other essential health services in four low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Specifically, the study explores the current extent of integration, the decisions faced by policymakers, and potential barriers/facilitators to integration in four countries. The analysis allows HFG to share lessons learned by each of these countries attempting to optimize rules, policy, and support systems for HIV and other essential health services.
Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (RMNCH) Expenditure BangladeshHFG Project
This paper estimates Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) expenditure for Bangladesh in accordance with the System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011) framework. A secondary analysis of BNHA data for production of Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) estimates requires additional data sources and methods to analyze each component of spending. More specifically, the secondary analysis includes three separate estimates for (i) reproductive, (ii) maternal and neonatal and (iii) child health. Considerably effort was made to minimize double counting of expenditure, due to definitional overlap. Hospitals, ambulatory providers and pharmacies are the three major providers that offer direct RMNCH healthcare service. Their respective expenditure estimates are accounted under BNHA. Public Health Program of the Government and NGOs also includes RMNCH related expenditure. To estimate the RMNCH share of hospital and outpatient centers expenditures, user level data by age, sex and disease are a prerequisite.
The objective of this analysis is to estimate RMNCH related expenditure made at the patient level by public and private sector institutions as well as households. RMNCH related expenditure made under various public health program of the government and NGOs are also analyzed. Estimating RMNCH expenditure using the BNHA data requires identifying relevant services and programs offered and implemented by various providers in accordance with their respective functions.
Landscape of Prepaid Health Schemes in BangladeshHFG Project
This landscape study is part of a series of studies and analysis, undertaken by HFG on behalf of USAID/Bangladesh to determine the feasibility of NGO provider-based prepayment schemes. This paper describes, based on available documents, published and gray literature, and key informant and expert interviews, the landscape of prepaid health schemes in Bangladesh giving particular focus on provider based prepayment schemes. Bangladesh has extensive networks of NGO providers, some such as the Smiling Sun NGO networks have been supported through external funding. This paper reviews existing or recently completed prepaid schemes as a first step to determine the feasibility of provider-based prepaid schemes to increase the NGO providers’ sustainability.
Estimating Bangladesh Urban Healthcare Expenditure Under the System of Health...HFG Project
Bangladesh is a densely populated country with 23 % people residing in urban areas and with a 3.5% annual growth of urban population. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics divided into seven administrative divisions: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet. Each division is divided into zilas, and each zila into upazilas. Each urban area in an upazila is divided into wards, which are further subdivided into mohallas. A rural area in an upazila is divided into union parishads (UPs) and, within UPs, into mouzas. The people who are living in wards were considered as urban population and the Ups’ population was considered as rural. However, the division between urban and rural health care is not so distinct and it is difficult to create an urban and rural demarcation of health expenditure. According to BDHS 2014, the urban population has more access to facility delivery, qualified doctors and less unmet need for contraception. This raises the question whether there is more health expenditure by urban population than the rural.
This study aims to estimate the health expenditures of the urban population in terms of provider, financing agents and functions by analyzing the data of National health accounts, which will eventually give a specific direction to identify the gaps and way of addressing those issues.
Integrating the HIV Response at the Systems LevelHFG Project
The global response to combat the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic scaled up considerably in the early 2000s with the establishment of key institutions, notably the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) (AIDS.gov 2018). In response to high global rates of AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, the internationally supported rapid scale-up of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention, testing, treatment, and drug development is widely credited with curtailing a global epidemic, thereby limiting the human and financial costs of the virus (Bekker et al. 2018). Still the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 1.8 million people were infected with HIV in 2017, and there are nearly 37 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) worldwide (UNAIDS 2018a). In many countries, financing and governance of HIV services is transitioning from international donors to national governments.
This funding transition has major implications for the governance, management, and implementation of the HIV response. Governments undergoing funding transitions for the HIV response are integrating aspects of the response into systems and processes for governing, managing, financing, and delivering other essential
health services. But this phenomenon has not been systematically studied, and documentation on how governments achieve this is limited. Understanding how some governments are navigating an HIV funding transition may help other countries and the global health community to better design and plan future or ongoing efforts to transition national HIV responses to domestic resources for health. USAID’s HFG project is helping to fill this gap. In particular, this study helps build an evidence base by exploring whether and how four countries in the process of transitioning to greater domestic financing of their HIV response are integrating HIV programming with local systems and processes for other essential health services.
This study applies the concept of system integration to examine the alignment of rules, policies, and support systems to address HIV and other essential health services in four low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Specifically, the study explores the current extent of integration, the decisions faced by policymakers, and potential barriers/facilitators to integration in four countries. The analysis allows HFG to share lessons learned by each of these countries attempting to optimize rules, policy, and support systems for HIV and other essential health services.
Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (RMNCH) Expenditure BangladeshHFG Project
This paper estimates Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) expenditure for Bangladesh in accordance with the System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011) framework. A secondary analysis of BNHA data for production of Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) estimates requires additional data sources and methods to analyze each component of spending. More specifically, the secondary analysis includes three separate estimates for (i) reproductive, (ii) maternal and neonatal and (iii) child health. Considerably effort was made to minimize double counting of expenditure, due to definitional overlap. Hospitals, ambulatory providers and pharmacies are the three major providers that offer direct RMNCH healthcare service. Their respective expenditure estimates are accounted under BNHA. Public Health Program of the Government and NGOs also includes RMNCH related expenditure. To estimate the RMNCH share of hospital and outpatient centers expenditures, user level data by age, sex and disease are a prerequisite.
The objective of this analysis is to estimate RMNCH related expenditure made at the patient level by public and private sector institutions as well as households. RMNCH related expenditure made under various public health program of the government and NGOs are also analyzed. Estimating RMNCH expenditure using the BNHA data requires identifying relevant services and programs offered and implemented by various providers in accordance with their respective functions.
Landscape of Prepaid Health Schemes in BangladeshHFG Project
This landscape study is part of a series of studies and analysis, undertaken by HFG on behalf of USAID/Bangladesh to determine the feasibility of NGO provider-based prepayment schemes. This paper describes, based on available documents, published and gray literature, and key informant and expert interviews, the landscape of prepaid health schemes in Bangladesh giving particular focus on provider based prepayment schemes. Bangladesh has extensive networks of NGO providers, some such as the Smiling Sun NGO networks have been supported through external funding. This paper reviews existing or recently completed prepaid schemes as a first step to determine the feasibility of provider-based prepaid schemes to increase the NGO providers’ sustainability.
Estimating Bangladesh Urban Healthcare Expenditure Under the System of Health...HFG Project
Bangladesh is a densely populated country with 23 % people residing in urban areas and with a 3.5% annual growth of urban population. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics divided into seven administrative divisions: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet. Each division is divided into zilas, and each zila into upazilas. Each urban area in an upazila is divided into wards, which are further subdivided into mohallas. A rural area in an upazila is divided into union parishads (UPs) and, within UPs, into mouzas. The people who are living in wards were considered as urban population and the Ups’ population was considered as rural. However, the division between urban and rural health care is not so distinct and it is difficult to create an urban and rural demarcation of health expenditure. According to BDHS 2014, the urban population has more access to facility delivery, qualified doctors and less unmet need for contraception. This raises the question whether there is more health expenditure by urban population than the rural.
This study aims to estimate the health expenditures of the urban population in terms of provider, financing agents and functions by analyzing the data of National health accounts, which will eventually give a specific direction to identify the gaps and way of addressing those issues.
Income, expenditures, health facility utilization, and health insurance statu...HFG Project
The primary objective of this study is to estimate the average income and general expenditures of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The null hypothesis is that income among PLWHA is the same as that of the general population.
Additionally, this study will help to inform estimates of the potential liability faced by Vietnam’s Social Health Insurance scheme if it assumes responsibility for paying for HIV/AIDS treatment. VAAC is also seeking answers to questions about why patients are not enrolling in the insurance scheme and how to increase the enrollment rate.
Benchmarking Costs for Non-Clinical Services in Botswana’s Public HospitalsHFG Project
Authors: Peter Stegman, Elizabeth Ohadi, Heather Cogswell, Carlos Avila and Mompati Buzwani
Published: April 30, 2015
Botswana’s health sector has embarked on a broad program of reforms and, to this end, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has developed the Health Services Outsourcing Strategy and Programme 2011-2016. This planning document emerges from major strategic thrusts outlined in the National Development Plan 10 and the revised National Health Policy. Decision makers at the MOH, as well as hospital managers and others involved in implementing the outsourcing strategy at the facility level, need to know, among other things, how much the provision of non-clinical services is already costing the government under the existing arrangements. The study described here intended to support the implementation of the outsourcing plan by generating actual costs for the delivery of four non-clinical services that are, or will be, the focus of future outsourcing efforts: cleaning, laundry, catering, and grounds maintenance. The study looked at costs in five public sector hospitals: Athlone District Hospital, Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital, Gumare Primary Hospital, Goodhope Primary Hospital, and Mahalapye District Hospital.
An analysis of the costs and cost drivers of delivering non-clinical services in hospitals that are not currently outsourcing service delivery provides a cost benchmark. This will enable MOH decision makers and implementers to better understand the costs and cost drivers of non-clinical services and to compare current costs with estimated private sector costs, effectively negotiate contracts, and move toward greater efficiency and cost-savings. Further, cost benchmarks will provide hospitals with the critical data needed to understand not only the cost foundation of outsourced services but also more about what they can expect to receive for that cost, such as the type, quantity, and quality of service or product they are purchasing.
Experiences in Outsourcing Nonclinical Services Among Public Hospitals in Bot...HFG Project
Resource Type: Report
Authors: Heather Cogswell, Mompati Buzwani, Louise Myers, Elizabeth Ohadi, Naz Todini and Carlos Avila
Published: April 30, 2015
Resource Description:
Since gaining independence in 1966, Botswana has served as an example of development success—experiencing high economic growth and progressing to a middle-income country classification. Throughout this process, the private sector presence in Botswana has remained small while the government has grown to become the dominant player in the economy and the country’s main employer. With the national Privatisation Policy of 2000, the government began implementing a broad set of reforms to diversify the economy, address the volatility of its two main sources of domestic revenue, cattle and diamonds, and increase the efficiency of the public sector.
While privatisation is a national policy, its uptake has been slow. 15 years after the policy was enacted, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is the leader in the government’s outsourcing and privatisation initiatives. The MoH has designed and implemented a number of outsourcing agreements for nonclinical services at seven regional and district hospitals in the country. These nonclinical services include cleaning, laundry, security, grounds, and porter services. Food service is expected to be outsourced in a few facilities in the near future. As a leader in outsourcing, the MoH has encountered and overcome challenges that are documented in this report. The material and lessons learned are intended to serve as a resource for others as they undertake outsourcing initiatives.
Tax Reform and Resource Mobilization for HealthHFG Project
This report examines whether improvements in tax revenue performance due to tax administration reform result in increases in available government funds that benefit the health sector and the conditions that facilitate greater allocations toward health spending.
Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM) Costing StudyHFG Project
The Health Finance and Governance Project (HFG), funded by USAID, was asked by to work with Partners in Health and its sister organization in Haiti, Zanmi Lasante, (PIH/ZL) to conduct a costing study of the recently opened Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM). The objective of the study is to provide data and information that will support the development of a financial sustainability plan for HUM.
Association between starting methadone maintenance therapy and changes in inc...HFG Project
The primary objective of this survey is to estimate the change in average income and general expenditures of methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) clients associated with starting MMT care. The null hypothesis is that income among MMT clients is the same before and after they started MMT.
Additionally, this survey will provide data to help to inform estimates of changes in job status associated with enrollment in MMT. This survey also serves to supplement a second survey assessing the income of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Outsourcing Cleaning Services at Mahalapye Hospital,...HFG Project
Resource Type: Report
Authors: Jonathan Cali, Heather Cogswell, Mompati Buzwani, Elizabeth Ohadi, and Carlos Avila
Published: June 30, 2015
Resource Description:
The Government of Botswana (GoB) is currently implementing a long-term strategy to diversify the economy, create opportunities for growth in the private sector, and increase the efficiency of the public sector. Outsourcing service delivery is one of four main approaches to privatisation outlined in the GoB’s policies, and the Ministry of Health (MoH) has been a leader in the privatisation policy by initiating outsourcing of nonclinical services at seven regional and district hospitals. Without complete data on the costs of services, hospital managers have been signing outsourcing contracts without knowing whether outsourcing offers better value for money than the current ‘insourcing’ system, in which hospitals provide the nonclinical services in-house.
The HFG project, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was tasked with exploring the costs and cost drivers of providing nonclinical support services at health facilities in Botswana to assist the MoH with planning, managing, and implementing its outsourcing strategy and programme. Based on a cost-benefit analysis of cleaning services at Mahalapye General Hospital, and observations from outsourcing in six other hospitals in Botswana, this report analyses the costs and benefits of outsourcing nonclinical services, and provides Botswana health authorities and managers with best practices and recommendations for determining whether they should outsource and at what price.
Synthesis of Data Collected From Health Facilities through Supportive Supervi...HFG Project
The Ethiopian government has introduced a wide range of health care financing (HCF) reforms aimed at increasing the availability of resources for health and thereby protecting the population from catastrophic spending at time of sickness. These reforms include allowing health facilities autonomy to establish facility governance structures, retain and use resources generated at the facility level to improve the quality of health services, improve protection of the poor through a fee waiver system, and provide certain exempted services that are in effect public goods. They also allow public hospitals to establish private wings and outsource non-clinical services. These reforms were first implemented in Amhara, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) regions and then expanded to all other regions and the country’s two city administrations (Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa). Supportive supervision is used by HSFR/HFG to monitor the performance of health facilities in implementing these reforms; supervisors use a standard checklist developed under the project to review and offer feedback on facility progress.
Understanding District-Level Variation in Fertility Rates in High-Focus India...HFG Project
The Government of India (GoI) under the Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV) programme focuses investments in 146 districts in 7 states, which have the highest levels of fertility in India. The strategy aims to accelerate the supply of high quality family planning (FP) services in order to bring fertility of these states to replacement level by 2025. Young couples in the 15-24 year age group constitute the most important opportunity for this investment as they have the highest unmet need for modern contraception (22 percent) and are the largest contributor to fertility (54 percent combined). National Family Health Survey, Round 4 (NFHS-4) data was used to understand patterns and variations in contraceptive use and unmet need among women in this age group including women with low parity (parity at 0 & 1) across the four high focus states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP) in MPV and non-MPV districts.
2013-14 HIV and AIDS Public Expenditure Review: Tanzania MainlandHFG Project
HFG Tanzania conducted a HIV and AIDS Public Expenditure Review (PER) in collaboration with the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS). The PER analyzes spending by development partners and the government of Tanzania between 2011/12 and 2013/14, and projections until 2017/18. For the first time, this PER combines Health Accounts and PER data to analyze spending by detailed HIV and AIDS program areas. This will provide Tanzania’s new AIDS Trust Fund with much-needed evidence to decide how best to finance the response to the epidemic, assess whether spending aligns with priorities from the National Multi-sectoral Strategic Framework, and determine how HIV and AIDS resources should be allocated in the future.
Evaluating the Cost-effectiveness of a Mobile Decision Support Tool in MalawiHFG Project
Mobile applications are promising tools for strengthening service quality and have been an area of considerable mHealth innovation. Despite growing demand for data to guide policymakers, donors, and program managers in making sound investments, there is a paucity of evidence on the cost-effectiveness of mHealth technologies. To address this gap, the HFG Project analyzed a mobile decision support tool with the following objectives: First, it aimed to provide a transparent and detailed methodology for categorizing the costs of building, deploying, and scaling-up mobile decision support tools in Malawi. Second, it evaluated the incremental cost-effectiveness of a mobile tool’s use in improving clinical care. Finally, the evaluation addressed challenges faced in conducting cost-effectiveness analyses of mHealth interventions when they are scaled up and become multifunctional.
Sustaining the HIV and AIDS Response in Grenada: Investment Case BriefHFG Project
The HIV/AIDS program in Grenada is at a turning point, facing both opportunities to expand and target its efforts and threats of decreasing funding. As its National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan awaits ratification, the country must consider whether and how to implement strategic priorities related to controlling and mitigating the effects of the epidemic. Critical decisions must be made about programming and budgeting for the HIV response in the coming years.
This brief provides analytic inputs to help Grenada develop an “investment case” for its HIV/AIDS program. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have encouraged the small-island countries of the eastern Caribbean to develop HIV investment cases, which are reports that aim to help program leaders target investments on the interventions and populations where they will have maximum impact, given limited resources (UNAIDS 2012). The priorities and analysis outlined in this brief will also inform a multi-country regional application to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.
Final Report on the Cost-Effectiveness of Providing HIV Testing and Counselin...HFG Project
Resource Type: Report
Authors: Olena Doroshenko, Lisa Tarantino, Peter Cowley, and Ben Johns
Published: 4/30/2015
Resource Description:
HIV service delivery in Ukraine is a vertically structured system, targeting key populations, but compromising efficiency and access to care. HIV testing and counseling (HTC) service is especially meaningful in Ukraine, where of the total estimated number of 238,000 people living with HIV (PLHIV), only 138,000 were registered for HIV care in January 2015. Currently, HTC is available mainly at polyclinics, located in rayon (district) centers and cities, in specialized offices for HTC provision. HIV is mainly diagnosed using ELISA tests. High HIV prevalence in key populations, high levels of loss to follow up after diagnosis, and undiagnosed HIV cases underpin the need to improve access and the existing continuum of HIV care in Ukraine.
Information on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of HIV testing and counseling strategies is scarce globally and absent for Ukraine. In Ukraine, HFG worked with the Chernigiv Oblast Administration, the Ukraine Ministry of Health, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and other partners to design and implement a pilot model of HTC using rapid HIV tests as a service offered at primary care facilities by non-specialized primary care physicians. The program was implemented in 2014 at 30 primary health care (PHC) facilities in the Chernigiv Region of Ukraine.
Income, expenditures, health facility utilization, and health insurance statu...HFG Project
The primary objective of this study is to estimate the average income and general expenditures of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The null hypothesis is that income among PLWHA is the same as that of the general population.
Additionally, this study will help to inform estimates of the potential liability faced by Vietnam’s Social Health Insurance scheme if it assumes responsibility for paying for HIV/AIDS treatment. VAAC is also seeking answers to questions about why patients are not enrolling in the insurance scheme and how to increase the enrollment rate.
Benchmarking Costs for Non-Clinical Services in Botswana’s Public HospitalsHFG Project
Authors: Peter Stegman, Elizabeth Ohadi, Heather Cogswell, Carlos Avila and Mompati Buzwani
Published: April 30, 2015
Botswana’s health sector has embarked on a broad program of reforms and, to this end, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has developed the Health Services Outsourcing Strategy and Programme 2011-2016. This planning document emerges from major strategic thrusts outlined in the National Development Plan 10 and the revised National Health Policy. Decision makers at the MOH, as well as hospital managers and others involved in implementing the outsourcing strategy at the facility level, need to know, among other things, how much the provision of non-clinical services is already costing the government under the existing arrangements. The study described here intended to support the implementation of the outsourcing plan by generating actual costs for the delivery of four non-clinical services that are, or will be, the focus of future outsourcing efforts: cleaning, laundry, catering, and grounds maintenance. The study looked at costs in five public sector hospitals: Athlone District Hospital, Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital, Gumare Primary Hospital, Goodhope Primary Hospital, and Mahalapye District Hospital.
An analysis of the costs and cost drivers of delivering non-clinical services in hospitals that are not currently outsourcing service delivery provides a cost benchmark. This will enable MOH decision makers and implementers to better understand the costs and cost drivers of non-clinical services and to compare current costs with estimated private sector costs, effectively negotiate contracts, and move toward greater efficiency and cost-savings. Further, cost benchmarks will provide hospitals with the critical data needed to understand not only the cost foundation of outsourced services but also more about what they can expect to receive for that cost, such as the type, quantity, and quality of service or product they are purchasing.
Experiences in Outsourcing Nonclinical Services Among Public Hospitals in Bot...HFG Project
Resource Type: Report
Authors: Heather Cogswell, Mompati Buzwani, Louise Myers, Elizabeth Ohadi, Naz Todini and Carlos Avila
Published: April 30, 2015
Resource Description:
Since gaining independence in 1966, Botswana has served as an example of development success—experiencing high economic growth and progressing to a middle-income country classification. Throughout this process, the private sector presence in Botswana has remained small while the government has grown to become the dominant player in the economy and the country’s main employer. With the national Privatisation Policy of 2000, the government began implementing a broad set of reforms to diversify the economy, address the volatility of its two main sources of domestic revenue, cattle and diamonds, and increase the efficiency of the public sector.
While privatisation is a national policy, its uptake has been slow. 15 years after the policy was enacted, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is the leader in the government’s outsourcing and privatisation initiatives. The MoH has designed and implemented a number of outsourcing agreements for nonclinical services at seven regional and district hospitals in the country. These nonclinical services include cleaning, laundry, security, grounds, and porter services. Food service is expected to be outsourced in a few facilities in the near future. As a leader in outsourcing, the MoH has encountered and overcome challenges that are documented in this report. The material and lessons learned are intended to serve as a resource for others as they undertake outsourcing initiatives.
Tax Reform and Resource Mobilization for HealthHFG Project
This report examines whether improvements in tax revenue performance due to tax administration reform result in increases in available government funds that benefit the health sector and the conditions that facilitate greater allocations toward health spending.
Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM) Costing StudyHFG Project
The Health Finance and Governance Project (HFG), funded by USAID, was asked by to work with Partners in Health and its sister organization in Haiti, Zanmi Lasante, (PIH/ZL) to conduct a costing study of the recently opened Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM). The objective of the study is to provide data and information that will support the development of a financial sustainability plan for HUM.
Association between starting methadone maintenance therapy and changes in inc...HFG Project
The primary objective of this survey is to estimate the change in average income and general expenditures of methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) clients associated with starting MMT care. The null hypothesis is that income among MMT clients is the same before and after they started MMT.
Additionally, this survey will provide data to help to inform estimates of changes in job status associated with enrollment in MMT. This survey also serves to supplement a second survey assessing the income of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Outsourcing Cleaning Services at Mahalapye Hospital,...HFG Project
Resource Type: Report
Authors: Jonathan Cali, Heather Cogswell, Mompati Buzwani, Elizabeth Ohadi, and Carlos Avila
Published: June 30, 2015
Resource Description:
The Government of Botswana (GoB) is currently implementing a long-term strategy to diversify the economy, create opportunities for growth in the private sector, and increase the efficiency of the public sector. Outsourcing service delivery is one of four main approaches to privatisation outlined in the GoB’s policies, and the Ministry of Health (MoH) has been a leader in the privatisation policy by initiating outsourcing of nonclinical services at seven regional and district hospitals. Without complete data on the costs of services, hospital managers have been signing outsourcing contracts without knowing whether outsourcing offers better value for money than the current ‘insourcing’ system, in which hospitals provide the nonclinical services in-house.
The HFG project, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was tasked with exploring the costs and cost drivers of providing nonclinical support services at health facilities in Botswana to assist the MoH with planning, managing, and implementing its outsourcing strategy and programme. Based on a cost-benefit analysis of cleaning services at Mahalapye General Hospital, and observations from outsourcing in six other hospitals in Botswana, this report analyses the costs and benefits of outsourcing nonclinical services, and provides Botswana health authorities and managers with best practices and recommendations for determining whether they should outsource and at what price.
Synthesis of Data Collected From Health Facilities through Supportive Supervi...HFG Project
The Ethiopian government has introduced a wide range of health care financing (HCF) reforms aimed at increasing the availability of resources for health and thereby protecting the population from catastrophic spending at time of sickness. These reforms include allowing health facilities autonomy to establish facility governance structures, retain and use resources generated at the facility level to improve the quality of health services, improve protection of the poor through a fee waiver system, and provide certain exempted services that are in effect public goods. They also allow public hospitals to establish private wings and outsource non-clinical services. These reforms were first implemented in Amhara, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) regions and then expanded to all other regions and the country’s two city administrations (Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa). Supportive supervision is used by HSFR/HFG to monitor the performance of health facilities in implementing these reforms; supervisors use a standard checklist developed under the project to review and offer feedback on facility progress.
Understanding District-Level Variation in Fertility Rates in High-Focus India...HFG Project
The Government of India (GoI) under the Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV) programme focuses investments in 146 districts in 7 states, which have the highest levels of fertility in India. The strategy aims to accelerate the supply of high quality family planning (FP) services in order to bring fertility of these states to replacement level by 2025. Young couples in the 15-24 year age group constitute the most important opportunity for this investment as they have the highest unmet need for modern contraception (22 percent) and are the largest contributor to fertility (54 percent combined). National Family Health Survey, Round 4 (NFHS-4) data was used to understand patterns and variations in contraceptive use and unmet need among women in this age group including women with low parity (parity at 0 & 1) across the four high focus states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP) in MPV and non-MPV districts.
2013-14 HIV and AIDS Public Expenditure Review: Tanzania MainlandHFG Project
HFG Tanzania conducted a HIV and AIDS Public Expenditure Review (PER) in collaboration with the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS). The PER analyzes spending by development partners and the government of Tanzania between 2011/12 and 2013/14, and projections until 2017/18. For the first time, this PER combines Health Accounts and PER data to analyze spending by detailed HIV and AIDS program areas. This will provide Tanzania’s new AIDS Trust Fund with much-needed evidence to decide how best to finance the response to the epidemic, assess whether spending aligns with priorities from the National Multi-sectoral Strategic Framework, and determine how HIV and AIDS resources should be allocated in the future.
Evaluating the Cost-effectiveness of a Mobile Decision Support Tool in MalawiHFG Project
Mobile applications are promising tools for strengthening service quality and have been an area of considerable mHealth innovation. Despite growing demand for data to guide policymakers, donors, and program managers in making sound investments, there is a paucity of evidence on the cost-effectiveness of mHealth technologies. To address this gap, the HFG Project analyzed a mobile decision support tool with the following objectives: First, it aimed to provide a transparent and detailed methodology for categorizing the costs of building, deploying, and scaling-up mobile decision support tools in Malawi. Second, it evaluated the incremental cost-effectiveness of a mobile tool’s use in improving clinical care. Finally, the evaluation addressed challenges faced in conducting cost-effectiveness analyses of mHealth interventions when they are scaled up and become multifunctional.
Sustaining the HIV and AIDS Response in Grenada: Investment Case BriefHFG Project
The HIV/AIDS program in Grenada is at a turning point, facing both opportunities to expand and target its efforts and threats of decreasing funding. As its National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan awaits ratification, the country must consider whether and how to implement strategic priorities related to controlling and mitigating the effects of the epidemic. Critical decisions must be made about programming and budgeting for the HIV response in the coming years.
This brief provides analytic inputs to help Grenada develop an “investment case” for its HIV/AIDS program. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have encouraged the small-island countries of the eastern Caribbean to develop HIV investment cases, which are reports that aim to help program leaders target investments on the interventions and populations where they will have maximum impact, given limited resources (UNAIDS 2012). The priorities and analysis outlined in this brief will also inform a multi-country regional application to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.
Final Report on the Cost-Effectiveness of Providing HIV Testing and Counselin...HFG Project
Resource Type: Report
Authors: Olena Doroshenko, Lisa Tarantino, Peter Cowley, and Ben Johns
Published: 4/30/2015
Resource Description:
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Technical Report: Hospital Drug Expenditures - Estimating Budget Needs at the Regional Level in Ukraine
1. September 2018
This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development.
It was prepared by Sergei Muratov, Alexandr Katsaga, Olga Zues for the Health Finance and Governance Project.
TECHNICAL REPORT:
HOSPITAL DRUG EXPENDITURES -
ESTIMATING BUDGET NEEDS AT THE
REGIONAL LEVEL IN UKRAINE
@HFGImagebyOlivierLeBlanc
@HFGImagebyOlivierLeBlanc
2.
3. The Health Finance and Governance Project
USAID’s Health Finance and Governance (HFG) project helps to improve health in developing countries by
expanding people’s access to health care. Led by Abt Associates, the project team works with partner countries to
increase their domestic resources for health, manage those precious resources more effectively, and make wise
purchasing decisions. As a result, this six-year, $209 million global project increases the use of both primary and
priority health services, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and reproductive health services. Designed to
fundamentally strengthen health systems, HFG supports countries as they navigate the economic transitions
needed to achieve universal health care.
September 2018
Cooperative Agreement No: AID-OAA-A-12-00080
Submitted to: Scott Stewart, AOR
Office of Health Systems
Bureau for Global Health
Recommended Citation: Sergei Muratov, Alexandr Katsaga, Olga Zues. September 2018. Technical Brief:
Hospital Drug Expenditures – Estimating Budget Needs at the Regional Level in Ukraine. Rockville, MD: Health
Finance & Governance Project, Abt Associates.
Abt Associates | 6130 Executive Blvd.| Rockville, MD 20852
T: 301.347.5000 | F: 301.652.3916 | www.abtassociates.com
Avenir Health | Broad Branch Associates | Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) |
| Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) | Results for Development Institute (R4D)
| RTI International | Training Resources Group, Inc. (TRG)
4. TECHNICAL REPORT: HOSPITAL DRUG
EXPENDITURES - ESTIMATING BUDGET
NEEDS AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL IN
UKRAINE
DISCLAIMER
The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government.
5. v
1. CONTENTS
ACRONYMS........................................................................................................................................... VII
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................................................................ IX
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................ XI
2. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................ 13
3. METHODS........................................................................................................................................ 14
3.1 CONTEXT AND ETHICS................................................................................................................ 14
3.2 SAMPLING STRATEGY.................................................................................................................. 14
3.3 DATA SOURCES, COLLECTION AND FORMATION OF A SINGLE DATASET FOR ANALYSIS ............. 15
3.3.1 Patient and hospital characteristics:....................................................................................................................................15
3.3.2 Inpatient prescriptions............................................................................................................................................................16
3.3.3 Drug prices................................................................................................................................................................................16
3.3.4 Formation of a Master file ....................................................................................................................................................16
3.4 ESTIMATION OF HOSPITAL DRUG BUDGET NEEDS............................................................................................. 17
3.5 EVIDENCE-BASED PRESCRIBING................................................................................................................................ 19
3.5.1 EBM score .................................................................................................................................................................................20
3.5.2 EBM prescribing among seniors ..........................................................................................................................................20
4. RESULTS.......................................................................................................................................... 21
4.1 PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS ........................................................................................................ 21
4.2 DRUG PRESCRIPTION................................................................................................................... 22
4.2.1 Comparison with the 2017 National EML .......................................................................................................................24
4.2.2 Proportion of PIMs (by Beers criteria)................................................................................................................................24
4.2.3 Drug costs..................................................................................................................................................................................25
4.2.4 Forecasting drug costs ............................................................................................................................................................29
5. LIMITATIONS.................................................................................................................................. 31
6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................ 32
7. APPENDICES................................................................................................................................... 33
ANNEX 1: SAMPLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION ............................................................................................................................... 33
ANNEX 2: NUMBER OF ICD10 CODES MANAGED AT THE POLTAVA REGION HOSPITALS................................. 34
ANNEX 3: MODEL FIT CHARACTERISTICS .......................................................................................................................... 35
ANNEX 4: BUDGET NEEDS ESTIMATION FOR 47 POLTAVA REGION HOSPITALS: ALL EBM SCORES .............. 36
ANNEX 5: BUDGET NEEDS ESTIMATION FOR 47 POLTAVA REGION HOSPITALS: EBM SCORE=HIGH........... 37
ANNEX 7: BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 38
6. FIGURE 1: EXAMPLE OF SEVERAL SKUS AVAILABLE FOR SIMILAR DRUGS ................................................................17
FIGURE 2 MAIN PILLARS OF EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE...................................................................................................19
FIGURE 3 DISTRIBUTION OF THE NUMBER OF PRESCRIPTIONS BY STUDY FACILITY, MEAN ....................22
FIGURE 4 PROPORTION OF PRESCRIPTIONS BY EBM SCORE, ALL AND BY STUDY FACILITY ....................23
FIGURE 5 PRESCRIPTIONS BY THE SOURCE OF DRUG FUNDING ...................................................................................23
FIGURE 6 DISTRIBUTION OF EBM SCORES AMONG PRESCRIBED INNS......................................................................24
FIGURE 7 AVERAGE INPATIENT DRUG EXPENDITURES, BY STUDY HOSPITAL .....................................................26
FIGURE 8 COSTS FOR PRESCRIPTIONS BY THE SOURCE OF FUNDING AND EBM SCORE ............................27
FIGURE 9 PROPORTION OF PRESCRIPTIONS PAID OUT-OF-POCKET............................................................................28
FIGURE 10 AVERAGE OOP PAYMENT ON DRUGS ........................................................................................................................29
FIGURE 11 PROJECTED AND MODEL PREDICTED DRUG EXPENDITURES FOR 11 STUDY HOSPITALS,
COSTS OF ALL DRUGS INCLUDED............................................................................................................................................30
FIGURE 12 PROJECTED AND MODEL PREDICTED DRUG EXPENDITURES FOR 11 STUDY HOSPITALS,
COSTS OF DRUGS WITH EBM SCORE=HIGH......................................................................................................................30
7. vii
ACRONYMS
AIC Akaike Information Criterion
BNF British National Formulary
DoH Department of Health
CMS Centre for Medical Statistics
CI Confidence Interval
CV Coefficient of variation
EBM Evidence-based medicine
EML Essential medicines list
HFG Health Finance and Governance Project
ICD International Classification of Diseases
INN International non-proprietary name
LRT Likelihood ratio test
MoH Ministry of Health
NHSU National Health Service of Ukraine
NICE UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
OOP Out of pocket payment
PIM Potentially inappropriate medications
Quasi-DRG Case-based payment system for hospitals
SD Standard deviation
SKU Stock Keeping Unit
UAH Ukrainian hryvnia
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USD US dollar
WHO World Health Organization
8.
9. ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We express our most sincere gratitude to the health department of Poltava oblast for their
overwhelming administrative support and making sure data collection is accurate and complete. Specials
thanks go to Victor Lysak, Head of Poltava Oblast Health Department and Alla Bredikhina, Chief of
Finance and Economics, Poltava oblast Health Department. Our appreciation and recognition go to each
participating hospital for their commitment and hard work.
We would like to thank the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Ukraine and its Center for Medical Statistics
(CMS) for their administrative and technical support of the study. Special thanks go to Serhiy Dyachenko
and Ihor Obremskiy of the CMS for providing technical assistance and maintaining a platform for data
entry.
We also thank our Ukrainian counterparts who shared important insight regarding hospital drug supply
and prescribing in Ukraine including Dr. Irina Mogilevkina, Yuliya Malishevska of the MoH’s State Expert
Centre, Victoria Timoshevskaya of the Soros Foundation/Ukraine.
10.
11. xi
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background and objectives
Ukraine has recently embarked on health reforms. Transformation of health financing and health
services purchasing is a key element of the reform package. To assist the Ministry of Health with its
implementation, the USAID Health Finance and Governance Project (HFG) has supported the design
and introduction of health purchasing operating systems, including development of a new case-based
payment system for hospitals (quasi-DRG). The HFG supported three oblasts in Ukraine to conduct
cost accounting study in 180 multiprofile hospitals. The results were used for the design of case-based
payment model. However, the task is complicated by uncertainty around the magnitude of out of pocket
payments which affects the calculation of the appropriate payment rates to the providers. Another issue
is the practice of prescribing drugs with poor evidence and realization that public money should not
cover such products. This study therefore aimed to estimate the magnitude of hospital budget deficit on
medications at the regional level and to estimate the costs of inpatient prescriptions with poor evidence.
Methodology
The study was conducted in the Poltava oblast of Ukraine. A cross-sectional retrospective study design
was used to achieve the goals. Sampling strategy included multi-level simple random sampling stratified
by age. The Poltava hospital discharge information system served as a main source of patient and
hospital data. Information on inpatient prescriptions was entered by study hospital staff using the
inpatient drug information module hosted by the Centre for Medical Statistics (MOH CMS). Weighted
average wholesale and retail prices were purchased from the Morion company. We estimated the
regional budget drug needs through econometric modeling. Our approach to assess evidence-based
prescribing included the development of an EBM score and categorizing all inpatient prescriptions into 3
major groups of high, moderate and low evidence. The British National Formulary served as the main
source of EBM information.
Results
In the 11 study hospitals, 4,127 patients discharged in 2016 were randomly selected for analysis. Females
accounted for 56%. The mean age of the study population was 33.7 years (SD=27.9). Average length of
stay was 9.6 days (SD=7.7 days). The sample covered 48 of 50 the quasi-DRGs.
The study population had 38,106 prescriptions in total during their hospital stay. The average number of
prescriptions was 9.2 (SD=6.7). 24,864 (65.2%) were assigned the high EBM score. 11,668 (30.1%)
prescriptions were described as of moderate evidence, while the remaining 1,574 (4.1%) had the low
EBM score.
All the 38,106 prescriptions reduced to 759 INNs. Comparing with the 2017 National EML of Ukraine,
153 INNs from the Poltava study list were included in the National EML. 256 more drugs that were in
use across the study hospitals and also listed in the BNF were not included in the National EML.
12. The average drug costs per a discharged patient were UAH 1,175 (USD 46) whereas the average cost of
prescription was UAH127 (USD 5). Patients admitted to multiprofile facilities carried a heavier financial
burden paying for inpatient prescriptions. The proportion of prescriptions paid by the patients in these
facilities ranged from 59% to 94%.
The average OOP payment was considerable at UAH808 (USD 31.6) per hospital stay or at UAH96
(USD 3.8) per day: individuals with the minimal salary would have to work nearly 3 days to cover the
drug costs of one day of hospitalization. The total estimated drug budget for 47 inpatient facilities in the
Poltava region was UAH291.1mln (USD 11.4mln) for the year of 2016. In contrast, UAH59.3mln (USD
2.3mln) were allocated by the region.
Limitations included the reliance on administrative databases, scan-review as opposed to a more
rigorous systematic review of evidence for drugs not listed in the BNF, top 1% truncation of the data in
the modeling exercise.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The magnitude of OOP payments for inpatient drugs among hospitalized individuals in the Poltava region
presents a substantial financial burden for the households. Also, only 65% of all prescriptions were
assigned the high EBM score. The results will be used to adjust the quasi-DRG weights. In the meantime,
national policy making efforts should be made to improve the following:
The government should increase allocations to fund inpatient prescriptions with the high EBM score
focusing on multiprofile hospitals and facilities providing healthcare in priority areas such pediatrics and
maternity.
Expansion of the national EML list should be considered to include other drugs of high evidence as it
currently does not cover the needs of hospital physicians.
In parallel, a national dialogue needs to be established to review prescription practices in the country to
avoid prescribing medications with poor evidence. Not being included on the NEML (i.e., positive
procurement list), these medications are paid OOP causing unnecessary and avoidable financial burden
for the patients.
13. 13
2. INTRODUCTION
A lower middle- income country with a population of 45.5 mln, Ukraine has retained many features of
the Semashko model of healthcare system: a state owned nationally controlled structure with a heavy
emphasis on inpatient care1. Over the years after the independence, decentralization of managerial
power was a major fundamental change to the system implemented by the government: in most other
respects, the system remains largely unreformed1. However, despite many political and economic
challenges that have hindered reforms in the past, continuing attempts to introduce much needed
structural changes to the system have led to the development of The Health System Reform Strategy for
Ukraine 2015–2025. Transformation of health financing and health services purchasing is a key element
of the reform package1.
To assist the Ministry of Health (MoH) with its implementation, HFG has supported the establishment of
a Health Purchaser in Ukraine: a strategic single payer for healthcare services. The technical support
included the adaptation of a methodology for facility-level cost accounting, introduction of an
information system of discharged patients for monitoring provider performance, and development of
new purchasing instruments such as a new case-based hospital payment system (quasi-DRG). The
ultimate goal is to inform development of national tariffs within the DRG-based payment system and to
estimate payment rates for services included in the State Guaranteed Benefit Package.
However, the task is complicated by the high volume of out of pocket payments in the system2. These
payments are wide spread and are present in many forms at various levels of care: ambulatory services
and hospital care, official services fees and informal charges, medical products and drugs. Reportedly, as
many as 90.7% of inpatients are paying for at least some inpatient drugs 1 3. This has implications for any
initiatives that seek to reform healthcare financing and provider payment mechanisms. Uncertainty
around the magnitude of OOP payment makes it difficult to determine the level of per capita
expenditures for inpatient drugs and consequently the appropriate payment rates to the providers. Also,
with the current economic situation pushing the drug prices up in Ukraine while the real income of the
population decreasing4, the financial burden can reach catastrophic levels for many patients. This
situation jeopardizes the strategic goal set by the MoH which is to provide patients with high quality and
affordable medicines across the country3.
Another aspect to consider when estimating hospital budget needs is presciption practices. Historically,
inteference with science and isolation from the West’s scientific research have left many post-Soviet
countries the legacy of outdated, excessive or ineffective diagnostic and treatment practices2 5-7.
Administrative and legal mechanisms to support evidence-based medical aproaches are lacking2. While a
debate on why these practices are still in place is beyond the scope of this report, it is clear that the
government should not allocate public money to cover pharmaceutical products of dubious effect. Such
prescriptions would need to be identified and accounted for during a budget estimation exercise.
Building on the work completed by the Project and acting upon a request from national and regional
HFG partners, this study aimed to
14. 14
1) To estimate the magnitude of hospital budget deficit on medications at the reigonal level:
Determine the magnitude of out of pocket payments for drugs among hospitalized
individuals
Contribute to age-based adjustment of the quasi-DRG weights
2) To estimate the extend of evidence-based prescribing:
Determine the proportion of prescriptions with a high level of evidence of clinical
effectiveness
Estimate the costs of inpatient prescriptions with poor evidence.
3. METHODS
3.1 Context and Ethics
This study was conducted in the Poltava oblast of Ukraine. Located in the middle of the country, the
region is an industrial and agricultural centre with a population of approximately 1.4 mln 8. Provision of
health care in the region is overseen by the Department of Health of Poltava (DoH). 70 healthcare
facilities provide inpatient care at 3 geographical levels (oblast, city, and district). Most of the hospitals
are multiprofile.
The MoH selected the region as a key pilot for HFG activities where all strategic purchasing instruments
are to be tested and introduced across the multiprofile hospitals. The choice was determined by several
factors: high level of information and technical support, political will and progressive leadership of the
region, high capacity of clinical, financial and economic staff of the DoH and health facilities.
The study was approved by the Poltava DoH and received an overwhelming administrative support from
its officials throughout the study duration. The MoH was kept informed and eventually briefed on the
final results of the study at a knowledge translation event. The Center of Medical Statistics (CMS) of the
MoH provided technical support in data collection and formation of the patient-level dataset for analysis.
Because we used de-identified patient information gathered retrospectively, subject consent was not
deemed necessary.
3.2 Sampling Strategy
A cross-sectional retrospective study design was conducted among patients discharged from the Poltava
hospitals in 2016. Several principles guided our study design and sampling strategy:
1) To use the available time and resources efficiently, we focused on hospitals that provide care for
the majority of the population in the region
2) The selected hospitals should treat a wide range of conditions
15. 15
3) Some patient categories (e.g., children and pregnant women) are a priority for the government,
hence should be accounted for in the study
4) All 3 geographical levels of care must be represented in the sample
5) No comparison group was needed. However, to better adjust the DRG weights, a good
representation of main age groups was required for which 7 age categories were created: 0-1, 1-
5, 5-18, 18-30, 30-50, 50-65, >65 years of age
The sample size is one of the most important steps in designing a study. It should be large enough to
represent the target population. At the same time, efforts to collect the sample data should not result
into a wastage of resources and time. In studies not involving comparison (hence no need to detect the
size of the difference between the comparators), it is reasonable to adopt an approach commonly used
in surveys. The formula takes account of the confidence interval (CI) and the margin of error9-11:
𝑛𝑛 = 𝑁𝑁/(1 + 𝑁𝑁 (𝑒𝑒2)),
where n = sample size to be estimated, N= population size, e= error margin at a specified confidence
interval. We used the 5% margin of error and 95% CI in our calculations. Appendix 1 shows the
distribution of sample sizes conditional on these parameters.
Stratified simple random sampling constituted our sampling strategy. It was implemented in several steps.
First, we excluded hospitals (n=23) that provided specialized care. Examples are facilities that manage
tuberculosis, psychiatric and oncologic diseases. Instead, the focus was on multiprofile healthcare
facilities that managed ~220,000 of 309,058 discharged patients in 2016. Second, analysis of discharged
cases by the number of ICD10 codes led us to select 5 multiprofile facilities that represented 3 levels of
care: Oblast General Hospital, Poltava City Hospital #1, Lubny Central City Hospital, Poltava Central
Rayon Hospital, and Gadyach Central Rayon Hospital (Appendix 2). The total sample size needed to be
randomly drawn from these 5 multiprofile facilities would be at least 400 subjects. However, to ensure
adequate representation of major age groups (or strata), the size for each stratum was inflated up to
approximately 400 through random selection within each stratum (total at ~2800=7 age groups X 400).
Further, subjects from several mono-profile hospitals were added to the sample to account for priority
patient categories: 2 pediatric hospitals (n=~400) and 2 maternity hospitals (n=~400). Also, we added 2
long-term care facilities (n=~400) to evaluate rational drug use using an assessment tool specifically
designed for elderly patients. The expected total sample size was 4215 patients from 11 facilities.
3.3 Data Sources, Collection and Formation of a Single
Dataset for Analysis
3.3.1 Patient and hospital characteristics:
During 2016-2017, HFG supported the introduction of cost analysis tools and development of a hospital
discharge information system in the Poltava region. This resulted into creation of a database of all
patients discharged from the 70 hospitals across the region. Using data from the #066 hospital report
form, the database compiled basic demographic (e.g., age, sex), clinical (e.g., DRG code, length of stay),
16. 16
and administrative information (e.g., hospital profile, geographical level) on all (n=309,058) hospital
admissions during the period of 2016. This database served as the main source of patient and hospital
characteristics in the study. Because the 2016 data was most complete, all further data collection and
analysis was coducted for this year.
3.3.2 Inpatient prescriptions
Information on inpatient prescriptions was collected from entries in the medical records. After we
selected patients into our sample, the coded numbers of their medical records were forwarded to
designated personnel in the hospitals selected for the study. They accessed the archived medical records
and entered information on prescriptions for each patient into the inpatient drug prescription module
hosted by the CMS. Key input data points included:
- the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) for each prescription which includes the drug’s brand name, drug
form (e.g., pill, ampule, tube, etc), and dosing information
- International Non-proprietary Name (INN)
- Number of units per package
- Source of drug funding (e.g., procured by the hospital, purchased by the patient, covered by
insurance or other)
- If the drug was procured by the hospital, the price per SKU was also entered into the system
3.3.3 Drug prices
In addition to hospital procurement prices, information on wholesale and retail drug prices was obtained
for all SKUs from a local vendor, the Morion company (http://www.morion.ua/). The company conducts
routine monitoring of drug prices across the country and provides advanced analytical support to the
government and industry. We purchased data on two types of prices for each SKU at the national and
the Poltava regional level:
• Wholesale: weighted average sell-in 2016 prices per SKU (i.e., price at which drug stores
procure from distributors)
• Retail: weighted average sale-out 2016 prices per SKU (i.e., retail drug prices)
We considered obtaining distributors’ prices as indicated on their price lists but after consultations with
the Morion representative we rejected this source as unreliable: the prices indicated on the price list do
not reflect the actual wholesale prices as well as the sell-in prices do.
3.3.4 Formation of a Master file
Finally, information from the three databases was combined into a single patient-level dataset for further
analysis (See Master file attached).
The most challenging part of its formation was assigning drug prices to each prescription. For most
prescriptions, there are several SKUs available on the market. These are very similar in most respects
17. 17
such as INN, drug form, dose, except for the number of units per package and the price – see Fig. 1 as
an example.
When hospital data operators were entering prescription data, they had to pick an SKU from a drop-
down menu in the inpatient drug prescription module. Unless the prescribed drug was supplied by the
hospital (then the operators knew exactly which SKU to select), they could pick any of those that
seemed suitable based on the drug form and dose. Moreover, upon receiving the prescription, the
patient could buy any of the SKUs at a drugstore. Therefore, we had to standardize the unit prices for
all SKUs by INN, drug form, and drug dose, and calculate an average price per unit across SKUs that
were identical. The prices for SKUs were assigned to the prescriptions. This work was conducted in
close collaboration with the CMS.
3.4 Estimation of hospital drug budget needs
Hospital drug budget estimation included several steps. First, we calculated the cost of each prescription
for all the patients in the sample using the formula:
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 =
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 ( 𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈) 𝑋𝑋 𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑋𝑋 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷);
Second, based on the formula, we developed 2 major scenarios to estimate drug costs for each patient
in the sample: “observed” and “projected” costs. To accommodate the fact that all prescriptions per
patient had various sources of funding, we used a corresponding price per unit and made some
assumptions, as explained below. The total drug costs for each patient per admission were calculated by
summing up the costs of all separate prescriptions. We used the “observed” drug expenditures to
Figure 1: Example of several SKUs available for similar drugs
18. 18
describe the actual drug costs in the selected 11 hospitals. The “projected” costs were extrapolated to
determine the budget needs across 47 hospitals in the region.
1. “Observed” drug expenditures
If a prescription was provided by the hospital, then we used the hospital procurement price for this
particular hospital. In the case when a prescription was funded by the patient, we assumed the patient
obtained it from a drugstore and applied the average regional retail price. For prescriptions that were
funded through other channels (such as insurance), we also applied the average regional retail price.
2. “Projected” drug expenditures
Similar to the previous scenario, we used the hospital procurement price for prescriptions provided by
the hospital. However, the costs of all other prescriptions were calculated using the regional wholesale
prices assuming that the drugs would be procured by the hospital at these prices had the facility had
enough funding.
Third, to calculate the budget needs for 47 hospitals, including the costs for all patients (not only the
sample subjects) from the selected 11 facilities, econometric modelling was applied. Econometrics
employs statistics methods for estimating economic relationships12. We try to find an association
between available variables (e.g., age, sex, length of stay, morbidity, etc) and inpatient drug expenditures
among patients in the sample by fitting a model:
Drug costs per patient= ꞵ0 + ꞵ*var_1 + ꞵ* var_2+ ꞵ* var_3 + ℇ;
As a result, each variable in the model is assigned a regression coefficient (i.e., ꞵ) once the model is fit.
The fitted model is then applied to the rest of the patient population to forecast drug costs for each
individual in the entire hospital population. Therefore, we calculated the mean annual drug costs per
facility and multiplied that by the total number of discharged patients from the facility in 2016 to arrive
at the annual budget needs for drug.
We have considered several variables, data for which was available to us (Table1). Generalized linear
regression was used to model the drug costs with gamma distribution and log-link function to handle the
right-skewed data13 14. The choice of gamma distribution was confirmed by the modified Park test15. To
avoid model convergence issues and improve the model fit, we truncated the top 1 percentile of the
data. Selection of the variables was conditional on the significance of the likelihood ratio test (LRT) at p-
value <0.05 and the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC: the lower AIC, the better the model is).
Analyses were conducted using SAS software version 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA).
# Variable name
1 Age (by categories)
2 Sex(M/F).
3 Quasi-DRG (50 groups, based on ICD-10 codes and whether there was a surgical intervention)
Table 1 List of variables considered in modelling
19. 19
4 Length of stay (in days)
5 Type of admissions, urgent (=1) vs planned (=0)
6 Multiprofile facility (yes=1)
7 Level of care (1=rayone, 2=city, 3=oblast)
3.5 Evidence-based prescribing
As defined in the WHO’s guideline on how to develop a national drug formulary16, “Evidence-based drug
therapy means integrating the best, currently available clinical evidence from scientific research with the
individual clinical expertise of the prescriber to improve patient care” (Figure 2).
The available sources of evidence on drug therapy are divided into 3 major categories16:
1) Tertiary: major comprehensive reference textbooks that compile all available information on
individual medicines, including safety, clinical and cost-effectiveness data. Examples are
a. Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference (https://about.medicinescomplete.com/)
b. British National Formulary (https://www.pharmpress.com/BNF)
2) Secondary: reviews of current therapeutic information, including clinical trials, that answer
specific and usually narrow research questions. These may be conducted as an independent
analysis (e.g., systematic reviews with or without a meta-analysis) or as part of a larger initiative
(e.g., clinical guideline). Cochrane Database is known for its rigorous methodology applied to
systematic reviews (https://www.cochranelibrary.com/) . The UK National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence (NICE) is an example of an agency responsible for developing and updating
clinical guidelines for recommended use nation-wide (https://www.nice.org.uk/).
Clincal
experience
Patient's
needs and
opinion
Scientific
evidence
Figure 2 Main pillars of evidence-based medicine
20. 20
3) Primary: results of individual observational and experimental (such as randomized controlled)
studies. Several large bibliographical databases exist (EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHLE, etc). Of
them, the US National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE database is most commonly used as many
publications are available at no charge via the PubMed search engine
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/)
3.5.1 EBM score
We assessed the degree of evidence-based prescribing in the sample and assigned a score to each
prescription using the following approach:
- If the INN of a prescribed drug was listed in the BNF, then the EBM score was “high”
- If the INN of a prescribed drug was not listed in the BNF but the product was described in the
Martindale and/or positive clinical trials were identified in MEDLINE, then the EBM score was
“moderate” or grey
- If no or little information of equivocal quality was retrieved for a prescribed product, the EBM score
was “low”.
Additionally, the Poltava hospital study drug list was compared with the National Essential Medicines List
(EML) approved by the order #333 in 2017, with the purpose to evaluate the overlap between the two
lists and identify potential gaps.
3.5.2 EBM prescribing among seniors
At times, drugs with a high EBM score may still be used inappropriately or incorrectly: e.g., at a wrong
dose, in an inappropriate combination, or in a vulnerable population potentially increasing the risk of
side effects. Such facts are a target of drug utilization reviews that would scrutinize drug prescriptions
trying to identify issues with their rational use17. Needless to say, this task would be an enormous
undertaking requiring a team of experts at hand and was certainly beyond the scope of this assignment.
However, instruments exist that allow researchers to flag potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) in
medical records directly or, which is more suitable in our case, in administrative databases that contain
information from medical records18.
One such instrument are the Beers criteria used to identify inappropriate prescribing among seniors, i.e.,
aged 65+19. The criteria were developed in 1992 and have been since revised several times. The last
revision was done in 2015. We evaluated the proportion of PIMs among senior subjects using these
criteria.
21. 21
4. RESULTS
4.1 Patient characteristics
In the 11 study hospitals, 4,127 patients discharged in 2016 were randomly selected for analysis (Table
2). Female accounted for 56%. The mean age of the study population was 33.7 years (SD=27.9). Average
length of stay was 9.6 days (SD=7.7 days). The sample covered 48 of 50 quasi-DRGs, where DRG 7.2
(Diseases of Upper respiratory tract + Diseases of ears, nose, and pharynx), 9.2 (Diseases of
cardiovascular system), and 10.1 (Diseases of Lower respiratory tract) were the top 3 most common
groups. The two missing clinical groups were 2.2 (Cancer in situ) and 7B.1 (Endocrine surgery).
Missing data included 88 records, most of which (n=60) were for young men undergoing clinical
evaluation before service in the military.
Variable Description
Age (by categories), number (%)
0-28d 37 (0.9)
29d-1y 382 (9.26)
1-5y 499 (12.09)
5-18y 622 (15.07)
18-30y 610 (14.78)
30-50y 644 (15.6)
50-65y 484 (11.73)
>65y 849 (20.57)
Sex, number (%)
Female 2310 (55.97)
Male 1817 (44.03)
Clinical group (top 10), number (%)
7.2 589 (14.27)
9.2 587 (14.22)
10.1 448 (10.86)
15.1 266 (6.45)
11.1 159 (3.85)
15.3 159 (3.85)
19.1 148 (3.59)
11.2 143 (3.46)
6.1 129 (3.13)
7.1 100 (2.42)
Level of care, number (%)
District 917 (22.22)
City 1825 (44.22)
Oblast 1385 (33.56)
Hospital type, number (%)
Multi-profile 2946 (71.38)
Type of admission, number (%)
Elective 3039 (73.64)
Urgent 1088 (26.36)
Acute length of stay, mean ± SD 9.6 (7.7)
Table 2 Patient characteristics
22. 22
4.2 Drug Prescription
The study population (n=4,127) had 38,106 prescription altogether during their hospital stay. The
average number of prescriptions was 9.2 (SD=6.7). As expected, patients from the children and
maternity hospitals had the lowest number of prescriptions ranging from 5 to 7 on average, whereas
seniors hospitalized in the Veterans hospitals had the highest number (Figure 3).
The majority of prescriptions (24,864 or 65.2%) were listed in the BNF, hence had a high EBM score.
11,668 (30.1%) prescriptions were described as of moderate evidence, while the remaining 1,574 (4.1%)
had the low EBM score.
Some variation was observed across the study hospitals in the proportion of prescriptions with a
different EBM score (Figure 4). We calculated the coefficient of variation (CV) for each EBM category:
CV per EBM category =standard deviation of the proportion of prescriptions with an EBM score across
the facilities over the average. The CV was the highest for the low EBM score at 31.6% where the
proportion of prescriptions with the low EBM score ranged from 1.7% (Veterans Hospital Kremenchuk)
to 6.9% (Oblast Children Hospital). The CV for the proportion of prescriptions with the moderate EBM
score was at 14.4%. Variation among the proportions of prescriptions with the highest EBM score was
the lowest at 7.5% ranging from 59.9% (Poltava Central Rayon Hospital) to 74.5% (Maternity Hospital
Kremenchuk).
20
11 10
9 9 9 9
7 7
6 5
0
5
10
15
20
25
NUmberofprescriptions,mean
Figure 3 Distribution of the number of prescriptions by study facility, mean
23. 23
Figure 5 below presents a description of prescriptions by the source of drug funding. All inpatient
medications prescribed at two Veterans’ hospitals were publicly funded. Most of the prescriptions in the
maternity and children hospitals were also funded by the government. However, the proportion of such
drugs should probably approximate 100%, given the both are areas of high priority for the government.
Patients admitted to the multiprofile hospitals experienced the heaviest financial burden due to OOP on
medications. The proportion of prescription paid OOP at these facilities ranged from 58.8% (Oblast
General Hospital) to 94.4% (Lubny Central City).
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
High Moderate Low
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Hospital Patient Insurance Other
Figure 4 Proportion of prescriptions by EBM score, all and by study facility
Figure 5 Prescriptions by the source of drug funding
24. 24
4.2.1 Comparison with the 2017 National EML
All the 38,106 prescriptions reduced to 759 INNs (Figure 6). Just over half of the prescribed drugs were
listed in the BNF (53.1%). 50 medication (6.6%) was assigned the lowest EBM score. The remaining 306
(40.3%) medications were placed in the middle category.
In comparison with the 2017 National EML of Ukraine, 152 INNs from the Poltava study list were
included in the National EML. 146 of them had the high EBM score, whereas 6 medications had
moderate evidence. 259 drugs used in Poltava hospitals and also listed in the BNF were not included in
the National EML. Because the National EML serves as a positive procurement list (i.e., only medications
on the list can be procured using public funds), it can cause issues with the hospital supply of drugs of
high evidence.
4.2.2 Proportion of PIMs (by Beers criteria)
The proportion of PIMs was evaluated in a subset of the study population that were elderly, n=849. The
mean age of the elderly patients was 75.5 years (SD=7.5), 52.4% were females. Most of the patients
were hospitalized at the rayon level of care (67.3%), to a multiprofile hospital (53%) through a planned
admission (91.5%). The mean LOS was 17 days (SD=9.9).
The elderly patients had the total of 10,781 inpatient prescriptions. 1004 prescriptions (9.3%) could be
classified as a PIM (Table 3). The most common PIMs were Diphenhydramine (24%), Omeprazole
(12.4%), and Phenobarbital (11.6%). The PIM prevalence in the study population is considerably lower
compared to hospitalized seniors in other countries20-23. It is important to note however that besides
the fact of prescription, a few drugs on the list had to meet additional criteria to qualify as a PIM. For
instance, omeprazole (and other similar medications) had to be prescribed for >8 weeks. Few patients
stayed at the hospital for this long. However, the fact of prescription is still concerning and requires
403
306
50
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
High Moderate Low
Figure 6 Distribution of EBM scores among prescribed INNs
53.1%
40.3%
6.6 %
25. 25
further exploration, especially that very little research in the area has been done in the post-Soviet
countries.
INN Count INN Count
Diphenhydramine 241 Diazepam 19
Omeprazole 124 Doxazosin 16
Phenobarbital 116 Esomeprazole 12
Dipyridamole 90 Nifedipine 11
Amiodaron 60 Meperidine 11
Metoclopramide 55 Phenazepam 10
Ketorolac 54 Clemastine 5
Pantoprazole 49 Chlorpromazine 5
Gidazepam 38 Clonidine 3
Digoxin 31 Guanfacine 2
Atropine 28 Rabeprazole 2
Insulin 21 Amitriptyline 1
TOTAL: 1004
4.2.3 Drug costs
Based on the “observed” costs scenario, the total costs of all the inpatient prescriptions in the study
were UAH 4.9mnln. The average drug costs per a discharged patient were UAH 1,175 whereas the
average cost of prescription was UAH 127. There was substantial variation in drug costs across the
study facilities (Figure 7). The drug costs in maternity hospitals were expectedly the lowest (UAH 519
and UAH 533) and nearly 4 time as low as the drugs costs in the Oblast General Hospital (UAH 1,920).
However, much of the variation was likely warranted: normal delivery is the most common cause of
maternity hospital admissions. It typically does not require drug therapy and have been a target of de-
medicalization/de-prescribing efforts24 25. The variation among city and rayon multiprofile hospitals was
much less (CV=8%).
Table 3 PIMs among seniors
26. 26
To fulfill its commitment to affordable healthcare across the country, the government should strive to
fund inpatient prescriptions with the high EBM score. Unfortunately, the proportion of patients’ OOP
spending on these drugs is considerable (Figure 8). With the exception of the Veterans Hospitals, it
ranges from 17.6% (City Children Hospital Poltava) to 97.4% (Lubny Central City Hospital). It is
concerning to see that patients admitted to maternity hospitals have to pay for nearly half of their
prescriptions with the high EBM score: 48.8% (Maternity Hospital Kremenchuk) and 59.7% (Maternity
Hospital Poltava). At the same time, some hospitals exhibit the practice of procuring medications with
poor evidence: this spending, if reversed, could be re-allocated to purchase medications with the high
EBM score. Also, reviewing physicians’ behavior to stop the practice of prescribing medications with
poor evidence could result in savings for the patients as currently they carry most of the financial
burden to purchase these drugs.
Of note, only 443 prescriptions (out of 38,106) were financed by an insurance company (n=234) or
other sources (n=209). However, the costs of medicines in the Other category accounted for 24.7%
(City Children Hospital Poltava), 18.8% (Oblast Children Hospital), and 17.4% (Oblast General Hospital).
These are attributed to very expensive drugs such as Peginterferon Alfa-2B, Rituximab, and Adalimumab
that were supplied by the MoH through a government program.
1,920
1,266 1,256 1,200
1,112 1,068
981 955
544 533 519
211.23 225.28 248.42
135.48 108.11 122.53 109.31 47.63 73.99 77.69 45.95
UAH -
UAH 200
UAH 400
UAH 600
UAH 800
UAH 1,000
UAH 1,200
UAH 1,400
UAH 1,600
UAH 1,800
UAH 2,000
Average drug costs per discharged patient Average cost per prescription
Figure 7 Average inpatient drug expenditures, by study hospital
27. 27
In absolute terms, the OOP payments among hospitalized patients were high. Consistent with the
results above, patients admitted to multiprofile facilities carried a heavy financial burden paying for
inpatient prescriptions (Figure 9). The proportion of prescriptions paid by the hospitalized patients
ranged from 59% (Oblast General Hospital) to 94% (Lubny Central City Hospital).
Figure 8 Costs for prescriptions by the source of funding and EBM score
(High, Moderate, and Low)
28. 28
If the patient had to pay out- of -pocket for inpatient prescriptions, the average cost across the 11
facilities was UAH 808 during the hospital stay or UAH 96 per day (Figure 10). In addition to the lower
proportion of prescriptions paid out of pocket, patients admitted to the children and maternity hospitals
also incurred the lowest OOP payments ranging from UAH 281 to UAH 437. In contrast, patients
hospitalized to the Oblast General Hospital incurred UAH 1,276 on average. Also, patient admitted to
rayon or city multiprofile facilities incurred higher OOP costs per day.
When compared with the minimal and average monthly salary in the Poltava region, the OOP payments
revealed a critical level of expenditures for the households. The minimal reported 2016 monthly salary
in the region was UAH 1,600 (or UAH 53.3 per day) whereas the average salary was reported at UAH
5,673 (or UAH 189.1 per day)26. An employee with the minimal salary would have to work nearly 3
days to cover the drug costs of one day of hospitalization.
94%
77%
65% 64% 59% 57%
37%
32%
27%
0% 0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Figure 9 Proportion of prescriptions paid out-of-pocket
29. 29
4.2.4 Forecasting drug costs
We have forecasted the total drug budget needs for 47 health care facilities using econometric models.
Two models have been fit to complete option A: costs of all drugs included and option B: costs of
drugs with the high EBM score only. For both, we modelled inpatient drug expenditures calculated in
scenario 2 which assumed that medicines were procured by the hospitals at the average wholesale
prices. Out of 7 variables we used in the models, sex and urgency of care were not statistically
significant based on the LRT and were excluded from the final models (See Appendix 2 for more detail).
As a check of predictive accuracy, Figures 11-12 below plot drug expenditures for the 11 study
hospitals: mean “projected” costs based on Scenario 2 and predicted costs by the models. The mean
predicted drug costs are close to the projected means suggesting a good accuracy for most of the
hospitals. The exceptions are the children hospitals and the Oblast General Hospital where there is a
gap between the projected and predicted means. One possible explanation is that the gap reflects the
very expensive drugs supplied by the MOH that were budgeted for in the “projected” costs scenario but
were truncated during the model exercise. As a result, the models offer a more conservative forecast of
the drug expenditures at these facilities. For budgeting purposes in these and similar facilities (i.e.,
children hospitals in other towns), health administrators can use the “projected” mean expenditures per
facility in calculations.
The forecasted total drug budget for 47 healthcare facilities across the Poltava region was UAH
291.1mln for option A when the costs for all drugs were modelled. The forecasted budget reduced to
UAH 179.3mln in option B. Since the reported 2016 drug budget across these facilities was UAH
59.3mln, the estimated budget gap for inpatient medications is at least UAH 120.3mln (See
Appendices 3-4).
1,276
1,049
963 908 858
437
349 349
281
0 0
113 134 137 116 127
20 47 45 31 0 0
UAH 0
UAH 200
UAH 400
UAH 600
UAH 800
UAH 1,000
UAH 1,200
UAH 1,400
Per patient for the period of hospital stay Per day of hospital stay
Figure 10 Average OOP payment on drugs
30. 30
UAH 0
UAH 200
UAH 400
UAH 600
UAH 800
UAH 1,000
UAH 1,200
UAH 1,400
UAH 1,600
UAH 1,800
Inpatientdrugexpenditures
perpatient,mean
"Projected" "Model predicted"
UAH 0
UAH 200
UAH 400
UAH 600
UAH 800
UAH 1,000
UAH 1,200
UAH 1,400
Inpatientdrugexpenditures
perpatient,mean
"Projected" "Model predicted"
Figure 11 Projected and model predicted drug expenditures for 11 study hospitals,
costs of ALL drugs included
Figure 12 Projected and model predicted drug expenditures for 11 study hospitals, costs
of drugs with EBM score=high
31. 31
5. LIMITATIONS
Our study heavily relies on an administrative database. Although they are increasingly used in research,
such databases are not designed for it. Data accuracy and missing data are typical concerns27. However,
the Poltava hospital discharge information system has been subject to data quality contol activities to
prevent these issues.
The entry of prescription data into the inpatient drug prescription module by hospital staff was not fully
controlled. We did however check entry quality for obvious mistakes and, if errors were identified, the
staff members made corrections. Also, hospital staff showed enthusiasm about the study. It was
reinforced by clear interest from the local health administrators: they actively participated in all the
meetings, encouraged hospital representatives to provide researchers with all the assistance in the
study, and created a positive environment around the study activities in general.
The development of the EBM scoring system was based on a scan-review. No systematic review was
conducted to identify the best available evidence, especially for prescriptions in the Moderate and Low
categories. This limitation however is unlikely applicable to the prescriptions in the High category as
listing medicines in the BNF is in itself a rigorous process.
The number of INNs identified in the study may be slightly different. There was a number of herbal or
homeopathic items prescribed as a standalone product or a combination of several for which no INNs
was available. They were combined under one INN: herbal. This may have some implications on the
total number of INNs but no impact on the costs, which was the main objective.
Finally, top 1% truncation in the modelling exercise has affected the predictive values for some hospitals.
However, the result was a more conservative estimation of the budget needs.
32. 32
6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This cross-sectional retrospective study has confirmed scarce previous reports: the magnitude of OOP
payments for inpatient drugs among hospitalized individuals in the Poltava region is substantial. Patients
admitted to multiprofile facilities in cities and rayons, i.e. those that provide most of healthcare in the
region, have a higher proportion of prescriptions with OOP payments and incur the highest OOP costs.
The average OOP payment was considerable at UAH 808 per the hospital stay or UAH 96 per day
individuals with the minimal salary would have to work nearly 3 days to cover the drug costs of one day
of hospitalization. The total estimated drug budget for 47 inpatient facilities was UAH 291.1mln for the
year of 2016. In contrast, UAH 59.3mln were allocated by the region.
Only 65% of all prescriptions were assigned the high EBM score, with a modest variation across the
study facilities (CV=7.5%). Unfortunately, >90% of these prescriptions were covered out of pocket in
some facilities. 152 INNs from the Poltava study list were included in the National EML. 259 drugs used
in Poltava hospitals and were listed in the BNF were not included in the National EML.
The results will be used to refine the hospital case-based payment system. In the meantime, national
policy making efforts should be made to improve on the following:
The government should increase allocations to fund inpatient prescriptions with the high EBM score
focusing on multiprofile hospitals and facilities providing healthcare in priority areas such pediatrics and
maternity.
An expansion of the national EML list should be considered to include other drugs of high evidence as it
currently does not cover the needs of hospital physicians.
In parallel, a national dialogue needs to be established to review prescription practices in the country to
avoid prescribing medications with poor evidence. Not being included on the NEML (i.e., positive
procurement list), these medications are paid OOP causing unnecessary and avoidable financial burden
for the patients. Improved prescribing can reduce such costs.
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