Private Sector Participation and Health System Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Yoong, Joanne; Burger, Nicholas; Spreng, Connor P.; Sood, Neeraj

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013243

Cited by 36 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Literature presents convincing arguments in favour of private sector participation in improving healthcare access and equity by providing otherwise inaccessible electronic health applications for at University of Leeds on June 4, 2016 hej.sagepub.com Downloaded from individual and professional use (Yoong et al, 2010). Additionally, this can allow the government to redirect its focus on incentivising the use of electronic health records in rural and underserved populations (Yoong et al, 2010).…”

Section: Role Of the Private Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, this can allow the government to redirect its focus on incentivising the use of electronic health records in rural and underserved populations (Yoong et al, 2010). Private healthcare software corporations are focused on older adults for programmes such as interactive personal health records, whereas younger populations suffering from chronic conditions are directed towards smartphone health applications and devices (Chomutare et al, 2011;Krist et al, 2014).…”

Section: Role Of the Private Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Promoting individual health using information technology: Trends in the US health system

Nimkar

2016

Health Education Journal

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Objectives: Advances in electronics, the Internet and telecommunication have pushed the field of health care to embrace information technology (IT). However, the purposeful use of technology is relatively new to the field of health promotion. The primary objective of this paper is to review various applications of health IT, with a focus on its use in health promotion and its evolving impact on the healthcare system in the USA. It also emphasises on the potential benefits of introducing different applications of health IT in health care and health education. Methods: A detailed review and synthesis of recent literature in the area of health IT was conducted to reflect and describe the recent trends related to health promotion influenced by IT in the USA. Results: This review reveals that despite initial reluctance, health providers and patients are accepting and even crediting health IT for providing patients with resources to educate themselves on their health status and actively participate in their health care by enabling them easy access to health information. Conclusion: Health-related IT can facilitate a paradigm shift from a system-centred disease prevention model of care to a more patient-centred health promotion approach. Furthermore, like most other changes in health care, health IT is facing its share of challenges, yet evolving to be one of the fastest growing trends in the US healthcare system.

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Section: Role Of the Private Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Role Of the Private Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting individual health using information technology: Trends in the US health system

Nimkar

2016

Health Education Journal

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“…Recent work using data from 34 SSA countries finds that increased private sector participation is associated with improved access and reduced disparities in care between rich and poor as well as urban and rural populations [13]. The result persists after controlling for per capita GDP and maternal education, two confounding factors that could be correlated with increased private sector participation and improved health care access.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthy Firms: Constraints to Growth among Private Health Sector Facilities in Ghana and Kenya

et al. 2012

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BackgroundHealth outcomes in developing countries continue to lag the developed world, and many countries are not on target to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The private health sector provides much of the care in many developing countries (e.g., approximately 50 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa), but private providers are often poorly integrated into the health system. Efforts to improve health systems performance will need to include the private sector and increase its contributions to national health goals. However, the literature on constraints private health care providers face is limited.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe analyze data from a survey of private health facilities in Kenya and Ghana to evaluate growth constraints facing private providers. A significant portion of facilities (Ghana: 62 percent; Kenya: 40 percent) report limited access to finance as the most significant barrier they face; only a small minority of facilities report using formal credit institutions to finance day to day operations (Ghana: 6 percent; Kenya: 11 percent). Other important barriers include corruption, crime, limited demand for goods and services, and poor public infrastructure. Most facilities have paper-based rather than electronic systems for patient records (Ghana: 30 percent; Kenya: 22 percent), accounting (Ghana: 45 percent; Kenya: 27 percent), and inventory control (Ghana: 41 percent; Kenya: 24 percent). A majority of clinics in both countries report undertaking activities to improve provider skills and to monitor the level and quality of care they provide. However, only a minority of pharmacies report undertaking such activities.Conclusions/SignificanceThe results suggest that improved access to finance and improving business processes especially among pharmacies would support improved contributions by private health facilities. These strategies might be complementary if providers are more able to take advantage of increased access to finance when they have the business processes in place for operating a successful business and health facility.

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“…The role and impact of the for-profit private sector in healthcare delivery, especially in low income countries, remains a highly-debated and contentious issue both from an ideological and practical perspective, with particular regard to healthcare equity and access issues. Empirical evidence has been presented over the years, for and against private sector participation in healthcare [2,3]; with critics arguing that private sector-run health facilities' high prices limit the poor's access to and use of health care facilities, thereby undermining healthcare consumption affordability, access and equity. Proponents of the private sector argue that it improves access and equity, and more efficient delivery practices by bringing in much needed resources whilst creating the space for government public health systems to increase focus on underserved populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 This was in the context of the deteriorating macro-economic environment from year 2000 onwards and health budget was eroded by hyperinflationary pressures. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Private Sector Participation in Health Care in Zimbabwe: What's the Value-Added?

Mugwagwa¹

2017

J Healthc Commun

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This paper analyses the private healthcare sector's role in Zimbabwe's health delivery system, especially after economic challenges reduced in real terms fiscal support for public health system funding. This paints a sharp contrast between practicalities of achieving affordable and accessible public healthcare on one hand, and the economic and social realities of underfunded and skills-constrained health systems. Using as empirical models and analytical lenses the country's 2009-2013 National Health Strategy and the WHO's health system building blocks, we examine the role played by private sector health delivery actors in the last 10 years and suggest that although the private sector added value, there is a bigger challenge of weak macro-level coordination and communication within the health sector which create problems for systemic design, strategy formulation and feedback mechanisms, important for institutional innovation and timely responses to changing dynamics. Macro-level coordination can be aided by documentation and standardisation of procedures, processes and approaches by different health delivery actors to align with national health delivery goals, allowing more predictable and measurable impact from interventions by different actors.

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Private Sector Participation and Health System Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 36 publications

References 13 publications

Promoting individual health using information technology: Trends in the US health system

Promoting individual health using information technology: Trends in the US health system

Healthy Firms: Constraints to Growth among Private Health Sector Facilities in Ghana and Kenya

Private Sector Participation in Health Care in Zimbabwe: What's the Value-Added?

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