Planning

This study addresses the growing academic and policy interest in the appropriate provision of local healthcare services to the healthcare needs of local populations to increase health status and decrease healthcare costs. The research goal is to examine the construction of a decision tool which enables healthcare planners to analyse local supply and demand in order to arrive at a better match. [from abstract]

This research aimed to assess how policies reducing demand-side barriers to access to health care have affected service delivery with a particular focus on human resources for health using case studies in five countries (Ghana, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe). In each the authors reviewed financing and HRH policies, considered the impact financing policy change had made on health service utilization rates, analysed the distribution of health staff and their actual and potential workloads, and compared remuneration terms in the public sectors. [from abstract]

This technical report summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during a policy dialogue on international health workforce mobility and recruitment challenges. These discussions provided a better understanding of the progress made and challenges in implementing the WHO Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel and provided further recognition of policy mechanisms that may be used to address the challenges and benefits associated with international migration and recruitment of health personnel. [from author]

This report presents the results of a consultancy to facilitate agreement and document current flexibility of funding streams for HRH in Ethiopia, building on existing work and within national frameworks for priority actions on HRH to develop strategies and country level actions. [adapted from author]

The authors aimed to assess the extent of association or agreement between different spatially explicit nationwide general practitioner (GP) workforce data sets in Australia to identify any disagreements that would imply differential relationships with primary healthcare relevant outcomes with different data sets. The study also enumerates these associations across categories of rurality or remoteness. [adapted from abstract]

The purpose of this study was to propose a physician supply forecasting methodology by applying system dynamics modeling to estimate future absolute and relative numbers of physicians. [from abstract]

This study tested a workforce projection model in the Netherlands by comparing the ex-post projected number of general practitioners with the observed number of general practitioners between 1998 and 2011. [adapted from abstract]

Following a recent review suggesting that cost-effectiveness evaluations of adherence interventions for chronic diseases are rare, and that the methodology of such evaluations is poorly described in the literature, this manuscript presents the study protocol for a multi-centre trial evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of AIMS among a heterogeneous sample of patients. [from abstract]

This study identified variables that were significantly related to physician and nurse employment rates in the public healthcare sector in Serbia from 1961 to 2008 and used these to develop parameters to model physician and nurse supply in the public healthcare sector through to 2015. [from abstract]

To portray the different possible developments in the supply of nursing professionals, the authors projected the supply of formally trained nurses and the potential supply of persons who are able to work in a nursing professioncalculated on the basis of empirical information on occupational mobility from a national census. [adapted from abstract]

This paper provides cost guidance for one adaptable configuration of a community health worker subsystem: a provider system housed within a larger primary-health-care system that includes clinics and referral hospitals. Costing is done by function and by local epidemiologic characteristics so that components and assumptions can be easily modified. [adapted from introduction]

There is a growing consensus that user fees undermine equitable access to essential health care in many low and middle income countries. Changes to fees have major implications for human resources for health (HRH), though the linkages are rarely explicitly examined. This study aimed to examine the inter-linkages in Zimbabwe in order to generate lessons for HRH and fee policies, with particular respect to reproductive, maternal and newborn health. [from abstract]

This article has been written as a guide for program managers who want to recognize and support high quality cost-effetiveness analysis (CEA) of training. It focuses on the approaches and challenges associated with conducting CEA of training in the context of program implementation or rapid expansion of programs. [from author]

The objective of this article was to identify factors that have contributed to the systematic development of the Cambodian human resources for health system with a focus on midwifery services in response to high maternal mortality in fragile resource-constrained countries. [from abstract]

The authors conducted a longitudinal study to explore the current situation and track the future evolution of the rural healthcare workforce, specifically village doctors, in China. [adapted from abstract]

The health workforce crisis is widely recognized as a critical obstacle to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the global health goals of the United States Government. The Global Health Initiative recognizes this problem and includes expansion and appropriate deployment of the health workforce among its goals. However, this has yet to be translated into a coherent strategy with clear goals, resource allocation, technical approach, and indicators of progress. This paper addresses that gap in the US approach. [adapted from abstract]

To address the lack of information to guide the development of policies and programs on HRH, this book aims to paint a comprehensive picture on HRH, consolidating new and existing evidence. The book highlights in particular new evidence on some of the underlying determinants impacting stock, distribution and performance of health workers in Ghana, including health worker production and attrition, management and accountability structures, the capacity of health training institutions, and health worker compensation. [from author]

This strategic plan for HRH in Sudan is introduced with the aim of guiding the efforts and further work in developing human resource plans at different levels of the health system in a comprehensive approach that considers all dimensions of HRH. The plan defines the priorities of HR issues; and accordingly recommends strategic goals and objectives to revive and improve HRH policies, planning, production, distribution and HR management systems to improve individual performance and training services. [from summary]

The main objective of this assessment was to determine human resources availability in the pharmaceutical sector in Sudan. The assessment was done in six states and included the Ministry of Health and its agencies, pharmacy education providers, public health facilities, private retail pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and local pharmaceutical companies. [adapted from author]

The report provides available data on the health workforce in PALOP. Its purpose is to support the responsible staff and partners to identify the needs for intervention, in order to improve the national and regional capacity for the development of human resources for health. [from summary]

This extensive volume shows how revenues, once collected and pooled, can then be channeled through specialized financing arrangements or agencies that have substantial purchasing power; that provide a predictable income stream for providers; and that allow strategic decisions to be made about priorities and spending patterns that would not be possible in the case of direct patient-healer financial transactions. [adapted from preface]

This article outlines the debate on performance-based financing from those who view it as a donor fad with limited potential to improve service delivery to those who suggest that it may contribute to profoundly transforming the public sectors of low-income countries. [adapted from abstract]

The Haut-Katanga pilot program and impact evaluation described in this paper is intended to provide rigorous evidence, using a randomized intervention design, of the effects of a performance-based financing strategy in the difficult conditions of rural DRC by analyzing the effects of the strategy on production of health services (quantity and quality), management of the facility and behavior of health staff, and behavior of households.­ [from author]

The authors evaluate Autstralia’s Practice Incentives Program which aims to encourage continuing improvements in general practice through financial incentives to support quality care, and improve access and health outcomes for patients. [from introduction]

This report outlines and evaluates a pay-for-performance program designed to strengthen the role of primary health organizations to focus on population health and health inequality programs, and to address problems of service access and lack of coordination between providers. [adapted from introduction]

This article explores remuneration in human resources for health, comparing wage levels, ranking and dispersion of 16 occupational groups in 20 countries is to examine to what extent the wage rankings, standardized wage levels, and wage dispersion are similar between the groups and across the selected countries and what factors can be shown to be related to the differences that emerge. [adapted from abstract]

The authors reviewed provider payment methods used in community-based insurance (CBI) in developing countries and their impact on CBI performance. [from abstract]

This technical brief presents an overview of an approach to help identify critical bottlenecks to providing quality preservice education and prioritize affordable actions for increasing the quantity of graduates while maintaining or improving the quality of education. [from publisher]

This study forecasts physician supply between 2012 and 2030 using cohort analysis, based on future production capacity and losses from the profession, and assesses if, and by when, the projected numbers of physicians would meet the targets of one doctor per 1,500 population. [from abstract]

This technical brief presents a summary of the forms of financing proposed or documented through an exploration of innovative solutions for the financing of health worker education. [from publisher]