Author: World Health Organization

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2024-03-11

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 9240084916

There has been significant interest globally in understanding how purchasing arrangements can be designed strategically to optimize the delivery of health services. Given the growing burden of chronic diseases worldwide and the costs they are likely to impose on health systems, it is imperative that health services for chronic diseases are purchased in a way that contributes to the objectives of universal health coverage, including improved quality, and ultimately achieves better health outcomes. This paper explores the role of purchasing arrangements in improving the quality of chronic disease care. Specifically, the paper provides an overview and summary of the types of payment methods that have been used, summarizes evidence of their effectiveness in improving the quality of chronic care and assesses the enablers and barriers to the implementation of purchasing reforms. For that matter, a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature was conducted, focusing on payment methods that seek to improve the quality of chronic disease care published. The lessons from these payment initiatives implemented to improve the quality of chronic disease care, mainly from HICs, suggest that they are a promising tool but, nonetheless, the quality and equity aspects need more attention in terms of the design of such initiatives as well as in terms of evidence generation. The significant information technology infrastructure and resources required to implement such arrangements potentially limit their applicability in low-resource settings.