Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2022Comparative Health Systems Analysis of Differences in Catastrophic Health Expenditure
The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries may have implications …
The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries may have implications for health system performance in the area of financial risk protection, as measured by catastrophic health expenditure (CHE). This article compares non-communicable diseases catastrophic health expenditure to the CHE cases caused by communicable diseases across health systems to examine whether: (1) disease burden and catastrophic health expenditure are linked, (2) Catastrophic health expenditures secondary to NCDs disproportionately affect wealthier households and (3) whether the drivers…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Evidence Synthesis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2022Hospital Closures amid COVID-19
The recent trend of hospital closures in the US has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, …
The recent trend of hospital closures in the US has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals have experienced financial hardship from reduced patient volume and elective surgery cases, as well as the thin financial margins for treating patients with COVID-19. This trend of hospital closures is concerning for patients, healthcare providers, and policymakers. This current opinion piece describes the challenges caused by hospital closures and discusses what policymakers should know based on the existing…
Operations Research | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Employee Health Plans Powered by Analytics
This article describes a business model for the employee health plans of large firms to …
This article describes a business model for the employee health plans of large firms to bypass insurers and instead use direct contracts with hospitals which have been designated as centers of excellence. The authors propose methods of machine learning and data analytics to identify efficient and effective delivery systems, with the ultimate goal of improving health care quality.
Operations Research | Health Systems | North America -
ArticlePublication 2014Step-by-Step Guideline for Disease-Specific Costing Studies in LMIC
Disease-specific costing studies can be used as input into cost-effectiveness analyses and provide important information …
Disease-specific costing studies can be used as input into cost-effectiveness analyses and provide important information for efficient resource allocation. This paper provides a step-by-step guideline for conducting disease-specific costing studies in LMICs where data availability is limited and illustrates how the guideline was applied in a costing study of cardiovascular disease prevention care in rural Nigeria. The step-by-step guideline provides practical recommendations on methods and data requirements for six sequential steps: 1) definition of the study…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2022Healthcare Cost of Overweight & Obesity in South Africa
This analysis estimates the healthcare cost associated with treatment of weight-related conditions from the perspective …
This analysis estimates the healthcare cost associated with treatment of weight-related conditions from the perspective of the South African public sector payer. The authors report that the total cost of overweight and obesity is estimated to be ZAR33,194 million in 2020, representing approximately 15% of government health expenditure and equivalent to 0.67% of GDP. This analysis is an example of a bottom-up gross costing approach. The study draws South African data from multiple sources to estimate…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2020Translating Population Evidence to Individual Patients
In this paper, the authors describe the differences in population level outcomes compared to individual …
In this paper, the authors describe the differences in population level outcomes compared to individual patients and discuss ways that these are differences. The authors cover topics including the difference between relative and absolute risk and benefit. They use an example of the decision to start anticoagulation in new-onset atrial fibrillation to discuss translating population level evidence to treatment of an individual. These options include generalizability, subgroup analysis, prediction rules, following response to therapy, and even…
Test Performance | Health Systems | Evidence Synthesis | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2019Measuring Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to estimate the 2015 national and subnational …
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to estimate the 2015 national and subnational universal health coverage (UHC) service coverage status for Ethiopia. The UHC service coverage index is constructed from the geometric means of component indicators: first, within each of four major categories and then across all components to obtain the final summary index. The authors estimate UHC service coverage at the subnational level using a variety of surveys and routinely collected administrative…
Test Performance | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2019Modelling Hospital Operations from Paper Registry Data
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to evaluate operations management techniques, which are …
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to evaluate operations management techniques, which are underutilized in the Ethiopian health system. Previous research has outlined the limitations of paper-based patient records, but few studies have examined their potential utility for improving management of hospital operations. The authors use data collected from paper registries in an Ethiopian obstetrics ward at Addis Ababa’s Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia’s largest university hospital, to model the ward’s operations. The…
Operations Research | Health Systems | Mathematical Models | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticleWeb Portal 2017PLoS Collection: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections
Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than one million new sexually transmitted …
Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than one million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur each day, incurring a very substantial burden of morbidity, mortality and additional infections. The pathogens responsible include bacteria, parasites and viruses, and intensive research is needed to address the substantial barriers to diagnosis and treatment of STIs, and the behavioral challenges of prevention. This PLOS collection, published in collaboration with WHO, focuses on global policy and systems…
Costing Methods | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Mathematical Models | Dynamic Transmission | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean | Asia & Pacific