Using Resource Profiles to Guide Allocation and Purchasing Decisions
The provision of health care involves combining a considerable number of resource inputs to deliver a mix of services that will satisfy overall objectives. In theory, this sounds simple. For a number of reasons, however, allocating actual health ca...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/09/5628670/using-resource-profiles-guide-allocation-purchasing-decisions http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13780 |
| Summary: | The provision of health care involves
combining a considerable number of resource inputs to
deliver a mix of services that will satisfy overall
objectives. In theory, this sounds simple. For a number of
reasons, however, allocating actual health care resources is
challenging and imbalances seem to be the rule rather than
the exception. This paper presents a simple framework for
comparing resource profiles for a selection of low- and
middle-income countries. The main purpose is to illustrate
the importance of a multidimensional approach for the
measurement and monitoring of health care resources that
includes measurement of real resources, e.g. personnel,
equipment and facilities, to supplement traditional
expenditure figures. Data have been compiled for two groups
of countries. Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Niger and Tanzania
comprise a set of low-income African countries. The
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru
comprise a set of middle-income Latin American countries. A
multidimensional approach for the measurement and monitoring
of health care resources may supplement expenditure reviews
such as National Health Accounts (NHAs) and thereby
highlight important linkages between expenditures and the
management of real resources. |
|---|