Incentivizing Quantity and Quality of Care : Evidence from an Impact Evaluation of Performance-Based Financing in the Health Sector in Tajikistan

To improve utilization and quality of health services, a growing number of low- and middle-income countries have been experimenting with financial incentives tied to providers’ performance. Relying on a difference-in-differences approach, we estimate the impacts of the performance-based financing pi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ahmed, Tashrik, Arur, Aneesa, de Walque, Damien, Shapira, Gil
Published: University of Chicago Press 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37000
Description
Summary:To improve utilization and quality of health services, a growing number of low- and middle-income countries have been experimenting with financial incentives tied to providers’ performance. Relying on a difference-in-differences approach, we estimate the impacts of the performance-based financing pilot in Tajikistan. Primary care facilities were given financial incentives conditional on the quality and quantity of selected services. Significant improvements are found on quality indicators, including elements of the content of care. While the communities in the pilot districts reported higher satisfaction with the local primary care facilities, and despite the improvements in quality, the impact on utilization was limited.