Introduction
District level characteristics
Governance and accountability mechanisms
Leadership and supervision
Financial incentives
Information system
Governance and accountability: Any systematic approach to ensure that services are accountable for delivering quality healthcare including audit and feedback mechanisms, medical registries, and continuous quality improvement tools. |
Leadership and supervision: Supervision is provision of monitoring, guidance and feedback on matters of personal, professional and educational development in the context of the patient care. Good leadership involves strategic planning for the provision of services, resource allocation, and set priorities for improved performance. |
Financial strategy: It involves provision of monetary benefits as a source of motivation for performing desired health related actions. Financial incentives can be user- as well as provider-directed. |
Information systems: It refers to a system that captures, manages and transmits information related to the health of individuals or the activities of organizations. Two emerging components of the information systems are the electronic health records and electronic communications. Electronic health record is the provision and access to electronically retrievable health records at the point of healthcare delivery while electronic communication involves computerized communication, telephone follow-up and counseling, interactive telephone systems, after-hours telephone access, and telephone screening. |
Methods
Findings
Governance and accountability
Reviews (n=14) | Description of included interventions | Type of studies included (number) | Targeted health care providers | Outcome reported | Pooled data (Y/N) | Results | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other outcomes
|
MNH specific outcomes
| ||||||
Bordley 2000[22] | Audit and feedback was defined as any summary of clinical performance gathered over a defined period of time and presented to the health care provider after collection. | ITS: 6 RCT: 5 Pre-post: 4 | Health care professionals | Immunization rate | No | 17% absolute decrease to 49% increase | |
Grimshaw 2004[23] | Audit and feedback: any summary of clinical performance of healthcare over a specified period. | C-RCTs: 110 P-RCTs: 29 C-CCTs: 7 PCCT: 10 CBAs: 40 ITS: 39 | Health care professionals | Performance improvement | No | Absolute improvement +7.0% (range +1.3 to +16.0%) (dichot process measures) | |
Hulschur 2001[24] | Feedback: provision of a summary of clinical performance after the performance concerned, based on medical records, computerized data-bases or other sources of information. | 55 studies: RCTs:37 nRCTs:18 | Primary care professionals directly accessible to patients for all types of health problems in US | Preventive services | No | Absolute increase of 3% to 26% | |
0.8 more visits | |||||||
Ivers 2012[35] | Audit and feedback defined as any summary of clinical performance over a specified period of time | RCT: 49 | Health care provider (excluding students) | Compliance | Yes | 4.3% absolute increase in healthcare professionals’compliance with desired practice (dichot) | |
1.3% absolute increase in healthcare professionals’compliance with desired practice (cont) | |||||||
Jamtvedt 2006[25] | Audit and feedback defined as any summary of clinical performance over a specified period of time | RCT: 118 | Health care provider (excluding students) | Compliance | No | median-adjusted risk difference was 5% (range 3–11) (dichot) | |
median-adjusted percentage change relative to control was 16% (5–37) | |||||||
Jepson 2000[26] | Audit and feedback to physicians on their performance, and sometimes that of their peers | 05 studies: RCTs: 02 quasi-RCT:01 Controlled trials: 02 | All people eligible to participate in a screening programs as defined by the entry criteria for that programs, included population groups such as pregnant women, neonates, children and adults in US | Screening Uptake | No | One trial: no effect on screening for occult blood | |
One trial and one quasi: feedback more effective on some tests | |||||||
Two trials: increased uptake of mammograms (p<0.05) | |||||||
Johnston 2000[27] | Clinical and Medical Audit mechanisms | Total Studies: 93 | All health professionals, mostly in UK | Clinician's perceptions of benefits and disadvantages of audit. | No | Narrative | |
Barriers and facilitators of audits. | |||||||
Oxman 1995[28] | Audit and feedback: Any summary of clinical performance of health care over a specified period, with or without recommendations for clinical action. | Total: 31 | Health care provider (excluding students) in mixed country setting | Rate of prescription for generic drugs | No | 40% increase in rate of prescription | |
Pattinson 2005[29] | Any form of audit and feedback with any other clearly defined form of audit or feedback or control group | No studies | Maternity units | Time and costs | Perinatal and maternal mortality and morbidity rates | No | No studies found |
Conflicts | |||||||
Phillips 2010[30] | Clinical governance is a systematic and integrated approach for ensuring services is accountable for delivering quality health care. Clinical governance is delivered through a combination of strategies including: ensuring clinical competence, clinical audit, patient involvement, education and training, risk management, use of information, and staff management. | RCTs: 7, longitudinal observational: 11 Case study: 1 | Primary health care providers in HIC | Process measures | No | Narrative | |
Outcome measures | |||||||
Pyone 2012[31] | Not clearly defined | Total: 2 | Staff, obstetricians and community | Maternal mortality and CFR | No | Narrative | |
Scott 2009[32] | Clinical governance defined as Systematic coordination and promotion of activities that contribute to continuous improvement of quality of care: clinical audit; clinical risk management; patient/service user involvement; professional education and development; clinical effectiveness research and development; staff focus; use of information systems; and institutional clinical governance committees. Separate definition of audit and feedback not given. | Total: 118 | General Physicians, mostly in HIC | Compliance | No | Median increase in compliance 5% (dichot) and 16% for continuous | |
Patient health outcomes | |||||||
Veer 2010[33] | Medical registry defined as a systematic and continuous collection of a defined data set for patients with specific health characteristics. | Studies:53 | Health Care Professionals | Process measures | No | 26 of 43 process measures were positively influenced | |
Outcome measures | 5 of 36 outcome measures were positively influenced | ||||||
Wensing 1998[34] | Any interventions influencing the implementation of guidelines and adoption of innovations in general practice. Feedback not defined. | Total: 143 RCTs: 39, CBA: 22, nRCTs: 13 non randomized, uncontrolled trials: 67 | GPs in HIC | Guideline implementation and adoption of innovations | No | Effective in 10 of 15 groups |
Leadership and supervision
Reviews (n=07) | Description of included interventions | Type of studies included (no) | Targeted health care providers | Outcome reported | Pooled data (Y/N) | Results | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other outcomes
|
MNH specific outcomes
| ||||||
Capblanch 2008[36] | Summarize opinion about what supervision of primary health care is by those advocating it; compare these features with reports describing supervision in practice; appraise the evidence of the effects of sector performance. | Total: 74 Policy and opinion papers: 08 Descriptive Studies: 54 Quasi: 12 | PHC Workers in LMIC | Health service coverage | No | 10 of 11 studies showed at least one outcome favoring intervention. | |
Knowledge and awareness | |||||||
Capblanch 2011[37] | Supervision is conceptualized as the link between district and peripheral health staff, and is considered important in staff motivation and performance. Supervision often includes aspects of problem solving, reviewing records and observing clinical practice. Supervision mostly means visiting supervisees, but also includes meetings in the centre. | Total: 09 cRCT’s: 05 CBA: 04 | PHC Worker in LMIC | Providers’ practice | No | 2 of 3 studies found positive impact | |
Providers’ knowledge | 1 of 3 studies found positive impact | ||||||
Flodgren 2011[38] | Opinion leaders had to be identified by one of the following methods: socio-metric method, informant method, self-designating method, observation method. | RCT’s: 18 | Local opinion leaders in HIC | Compliance | Yes | RD12% (6- 14.5%) | |
Oxman 1995[28] | Use of providers explicitly nominated by their colleagues to be "educationally influential”. | Trials: 04 | Local opinion leaders | No of vaginal deliveries | No | Increase in number of vaginal deliveries after C-section in hospitals where local opinion leaders were involved (1/1) | |
Pearson 2007[39] | Feasibility, meaningfulness and effectiveness of developing and sustaining nursing leadership to foster a healthy work environment in healthcare. | Total:48 Review: 1 Experimental: 2 Descriptive correlational: 45 | Nursing Personnel | Satisfaction | No | Narrative | |
Wong 2007[41] | Leadership was defined as the process through which an individual attempts to intentionally influence another individual or a group to accomplish a goal. | Observational: 07 | Nursing Personnel | Patient satisfaction | No | Satisfaction increased in 2 of 3 (insignificant in 1) | |
Patient mortality and patient safety | Mortality reduced in 1 of 3 (insignificant in 2) | ||||||
Adverse events | Adverse events decreased in 2 of 3 (insignificant in 1) | ||||||
Complications | Complications decreased in 2 of 3 (insignificant in 1) | ||||||
Wheeler 2007[40] | Supervisors must be counselors or psychotherapists or other professionals who have had a substantial training as counselors or psychotherapists and who were specifically engaged in a counseling role with clients. | Quantitative: 08 Qualitative: 03 Mixed: 07 | Counselors or psychotherapist in HIC | Self-awareness, skills, self-efficacy, timing and frequency, theoretical orientation, support , client outcomes | No | Narrative |
Financial strategy
Reviews (n=11) | Description of included interventions | Type of studies included (no) | Targeted health care providers | Outcome reported* | Pooled data (Y/N) | Results | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other outcomes | MNH specific outcomes | ||||||
An incentive is any factor (financial or non-financial) that provides motivation for a particular course of action, or counts as a reason for preferring one choice compared to alternatives. Financial incentives are extrinsic sources of motivation and exist when an individual receives a monetary transfer which is made conditional on acting in a particular way | 4 reviews | physicians, dentists, nurses, and allied healthcare professions (such as physiotherapists, speech therapists etc.) involved in providing direct patient care in LMIC and HIC | Consultation or visit rates | No | Improvement in 10/17 outcomes | ||
Processes of care | Improvement in 41/57 outcomes | ||||||
Referrals and admissions | Improvement in 11/16 outcomes | ||||||
Compliance | Improvement in 5/17 outcomes | ||||||
Prescribing costs | Improvement in 28/34 outcomes | ||||||
Gaarder 2010[42] | The traditional CCT programs (which is how we will refer to the nine safety-net type of programs included in the study) were specifically designed to influence demand-side factors, and, in most cases, not the supply-side factors | 41 studies related to 11 programs/interventions | General population | Clinic visits | Yes | 1.26 (1.09, 1.45) | |
Immunization-DPT | 1.08 (1.03, 1.14) | ||||||
Immunization-Full | 1.09 (0.97, 1.22) | ||||||
Nutritional improvements-stunting | 1.04 (0.92, 1.18) | ||||||
Nutritional improvements-wasting | 1.19 (0.55, 2.57) | ||||||
Giuffrida 1999[43] | Target payments remuneration. Under a target payments remuneration system a lump sum payment is made if, and only if, the PCP reaches a predetermined quantity or target level of care. | RCT: 1 ITS: 1 | Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) defined as medically qualified physicians who provide primary health care. | Immunization rates | No | Significant improvement in 1 of 2 studies | |
Gosden 2000[44] | Salary: where a lump sum payment is made to the PCP for a set number of working hours or sessions per week. Capitation: where a payment is made to a PCP for every patient for whom they provide care. Fee-for-service (FFS): where payment is made to a PCP for every item of service or unit of care that they provide. | RCTs: 2, BFA: 2 | Primary Care Physicians in HIC | Primary care physician visit | No | Narrative | |
Prescriptions | |||||||
Diagnostic and curative services | |||||||
Referrals | |||||||
Health/emergency department visits | |||||||
Hospitalization | |||||||
Compliance | |||||||
Costs | |||||||
Lagarde 2007[12] | effect of directly transferring money to households conditional on some requirements, at least 1 of which had to be related to health seeking behavior | Total: 10 RCTs:04, quasi-randomized trial: 01 controlled before-and-after study: 1 | People living in low- or middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank. Health services and institutions in LMIC | Care seeking behavior | Immunization coverage | No | 5/5 studies showed significant improvement in at least 1of the care seeking outcome |
Anthropometric and nutritional | 3/4 studies reported significant improvement All programs showed positive outcome | ||||||
Lagarde 2009[45] | Direct monetary transfers made to households and transfers conditioned on a particular behavior or action (e.g. visit to a health facility for regular checkups). Unconditional transfers were not considered. | RCT’s : 08, controlled before after (CBA) studies: 02 | People living in low- or middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank. Health services and institutions | Health service utilization | No | 27% increase in individuals returning for voluntary HIV counseling, 2.1 more visits per day to health facilities | |
Immunization coverage | 11-20% more children taken to the health center 23-33% more children<4 yrs. attending preventive healthcare visits 3/4 showed improvement (insignificant) | ||||||
Health outcomes | 22-25% decrease in the probability of children <3 years old being reported ill in the past month | ||||||
Child anthropometry | 3/4 studies reported improvement (1 negative) | ||||||
Oxman 2009[46] | RBF can be defined as the transfer of money or material goods conditional on taking a measurable action or achieving a predetermined performance target | recipients of healthcare, individual providers of healthcare, healthcare facilities, private sector organizations, public sector organizations, sub-national governments (municipalities or provinces), national governments, or multiple levels in LMIC | TB outcomes | No | Narrative | ||
Program specific outcomes | |||||||
Scott 2011[47] | Financial incentives defined in detail in terms of method of payment, level of payment. Quality of care defined broadly as of “the degree to which health care services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge | cRCT: 3CBA:2 ITS: 1 | Primary care physicians (PCPs): PCPs are defined as doctors holding A medical degree and include general practitioners, family doctors, family physicians, family practitioners, and other generalist physicians working in primary healthcare settings who fulfill primary health care tasks | Quality of care | 6/7 studies showed modest positive effects on quality of care for some primary outcome measures, but not all. One study found no effect on quality of care | ||
Town 2005[48] | The term “economic incentives” describes financial incentives where there is an increase in physician income that is a function of measurable performance criteria. These include bonus payments payable on the basis of number of specific services provided, or based on the provider achieving a target outcome or target behavior. | RCT’s: 06 | Physician in US | Preventive services | No | 1/6 studies reported significant improvement | |
Witter 2012[49] | Pay for performance refers to the transfer of money or material goods conditional on taking a measurable action or achieving a predetermined performance target | RCT: 1, CBA: 6, interrupted time series: 2 | providers of healthcare services (health workers and facilities), sub-national organizations (health administrations, non-governmental organizations or local governments), national governments and combinations of these in LMIC | Provider performance (QoC) | No | Mixed findings from 5 studies Both positive and negative impacts in 2 studies | |
Utilization of service (antenatal care) | Mixed findings from 4 studies | ||||||
Utilization of service (institutional delivery) | No impact on preventive care | ||||||
Utilization of service (preventive care for children) | Immunization coverage improved in 4/4 studies | ||||||
Patient outcome | Improved wasting in 1/1 study | ||||||
Zaidi 12 (unpublished)[50] | Financing platforms that addressed maternal care either as primary objective of their study or as part of a larger service package. Types of financing strategies considered for this review included cash transfers, vouchers, contracting, community health insurance schemes, national health insurance, and user fee exemption. | 12 | General population |
Maternal Voucher Schemes:
| Yes |
2.97 (2.38-3.71)
| |
Institutional delivery | 3.70 (2.03-6.73) | ||||||
Skilled birth attendant | 3.81 (2.92-4.95) | ||||||
Complicated delivery | 1.53 (1.14-2.05) | ||||||
ANC | 3.08 (2.23-4.25) | ||||||
PNC | 2.66 (1.59-4.44) | ||||||
Maternal CCT:
|
0.88 (0.76-1.02)
| ||||||
Skilled birth attendant | 0.88 (0.76-1.02) | ||||||
User fee removal:
|
1.57 (1.33-1.85)
| ||||||
Institutional delivery | 1.58 (1.16-2.14) | ||||||
Skilled birth attendant | 1.54 (1.26-1.88) | ||||||
National health insurance:
|
1.22 (0.90-1.65)
| ||||||
ANC | 1.04 (1.01-1.07) | ||||||
Institutional delivery | 1.48 (0.79-2.78) | ||||||
Community based health insurance:
|
1.77 (1.29-2.44)
| ||||||
Institutional delivery | 3.00 (1.60-5.61) | ||||||
ANC | 1.41 (1.22-1.63) | ||||||
PNC | 0.96 (0.46-2.00) |
Information systems
Reviews (n=15) | Description of included interventions | Type of Studies included (no) | Targeted Health care Providers | Outcome reported | Pooled Data (Y/N) | Results | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Other outcomes
|
MNH specific outcomes
| ||||||
Black 2011[52] | The researchers divided e-Health technologies into three main categories: (1) storing, managing, and transmission of data; (2) clinical decision support; and (3) facilitating care from a distance. | 53 systematic reviews | Various health care professionals | Patient outcomes | Electronic prescribing | No | Weak to moderate effect (10 out of a total of 26 studies) |
Aassociated computerised provider (or physician) order entry systems | 6 out of a total of 6 studies showed no benefit | ||||||
Gagnon 09[65] | Any type of intervention to promote the adoption and use of any type of Information Communication Technology (ICT) (electronic medical record, telemedicine/ tele-health, health information networks, decision support tools, Internet-based technologies and services). | RCT: 09 ITS: 01 | healthcare professionals, residents, fellows, and other registered healthcare professionals in HIC | Information and communication technology adoption | No | Small to moderate positive effect on adoption (4/10) | |
No significant positive effect (4/10) | |||||||
Mixed effect (2/10) | |||||||
Hayrinen 08[58] | Electronic health records: definitions, structure, context, access, purpose and methods | 89 papers | Health care professionals in HIC | Electronic health records: definitions, structure, context, access, purpose and methods | No | Narrative | |
Irani 09[60] | Use of Electronic health record system in outpatient and office setting | Cross-sectional: 03 Pre-post: 04 (meta-analyzed: 03) | Physicians in HIC | Patient satisfaction | Yes | 3.7% (2.9-5.2%) | |
McGowan 09[61] | Provision and access to electronically retrievable health records at point of healthcare delivery and training component | cRCT’s: 02 | Physicians, nurses and midwives in HIC | Professional behavior | No | No significant change (2/2) | |
Improvement in knowledge | Improved knowledge (1/2) | ||||||
Ballas 1997 (electronic communication)[51] |
Distance technology applications were described in 6 categories: computerized communication, telephone follow-up and counseling, telephone reminders, interactive telephone systems, after-hours telephone access, and telephone screening.
|
80 clinical trials
|
General healthcare providers
| Computerized communication: Clinical outcomes for diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cardiac diseases |
No
|
HbA
1c
decreased (4/4)
Insignificant changes in other outcomes
| |
Telephonic follow-up: ED visits |
Significant improvements in keeping appointment, compliance, follow-up care, satisfaction
| ||||||
Cardiac care
|
Significant improvement in smoking cessation, exercise, general activity, knowledge
| ||||||
Mammography use
|
Significant increase in no of mammograms (Range: 14%-25%)
| ||||||
Osteoarthritis
|
Significant improvement in AIMS score
| ||||||
Tobacco use prevention
|
Significant decrease of 8.3%
| ||||||
Appointment keeping rates
|
Appointment kept or responsibly cancelled (5/6)
| ||||||
Immunization rates
|
Significant increase (Range: 6.4%-27.2%)
| ||||||
Medication compliance
|
Significant improvement in compliance events and pharmacy score
| ||||||
Diabetic foot care
|
Significant improvement in Serious foot lesions, dry or cracked skin, ingrown toenails and fungal nail infections
| ||||||
Osteoarthritis
|
Significant improvement in physical disability and pain
| ||||||
All designated telephone consultation systems where patients calls are received, assessed and managed by giving advice or by referral to a more appropriate service. This included those with and without computer based clinical decision support systems | RCT: 05 CCT:01 ITS: 03 | healthcare providers in HIC | Visit to GP’s | No | Significant reduction (3/5) | ||
Visits to A&E department | No difference (6/7), significant increase (1/7) | ||||||
Hospital admissions | Reduction in hospital admissions (2/2) | ||||||
Home visit | No significant reduction (1/1) | ||||||
Out of hours contact | Small significant increase (1/2) | ||||||
Patient satisfaction | |||||||
Cost | |||||||
Car 11[55] | Online health literacy | RCT: 01 CBA: 01 | All patients/ consumers | Self-efficacy for health information seeking | No | 1.10 points higher in intervention group | |
Health information evaluation skills | 0.60 points higher in intervention group | ||||||
# of times pt. discussed online | 0.7 times higher in intervention group | ||||||
Currell 00 (telemedicine)[56] | Studies which compare the provision of patient care face to face with care given using telecommunications technologies, in which at least two communication media are used interactively (e.g. video consultation between hospital consultant and general practitioner). | Trials: 07 | Qualified healthcare practitioners from any discipline in HIC | Measurable difference in outcome of care | No | No unequivocal benefit (7/7) | |
Economic consequence | |||||||
Acceptability of care | |||||||
Difference in professional practice | |||||||
Difference in transfer of care | |||||||
Grilli 02
| Mass media | ITS: 20 | Healthcare providers patients and general public | Effectiveness | No | Effective in improving healthcare utilization (7/7 studies) | |
Heselmans 09[59] | An electronic guideline implementation method was defined as an electronic system directly supporting evidence-based clinical decision making in which point-of care advice is provided based on one or more CPGs | 20 cRCT, 1 CCT, 2 CBA | physicians | Patient outcomes | No | 7/23 studies had >50% of the process outcomes significantly improved | |
Process outcomes | |||||||
Mistiaen 06 (telephone follow-ups)[62] | Telephone follow-up (TFU) initiated by a hospital-based health professional (medical, nursing, social work, pharmaceutical) to a patient who is discharged to his/her own home setting (including a relative’s home). | 33 RCT’s and controlled trials | hospital based healthcare professional in HIC | Compliance in cardiac surgery patients | 1.68 [0.59, 4.78] | ||
Compliance in ED patients (making an appointment) | 1.68 [0.59, 4.78] | ||||||
Compliance in ED patients (keeping an appointment) | 1.58 [1.01, 2.48] | ||||||
Effect on knowledge in cardiac patients | 1.44 [-0.25, 3.13] | ||||||
Effect on readmission(cardiac patients) | 0.75 [0.41, 1.36] | ||||||
Effect on readmission in surgery patients | 0.65 [0.28, 1.55] | ||||||
ED visits in surgery patients | 1.47 [0.85, 2.53] | ||||||
Noordam 11[19] | The potential of mobile phones to improve maternal health services in Low and Middle Income Countries | Projects | LMIC | Accessing emergency obstetric care, improving the capacity of lesser trained health workers, empowering women | No | Narrative | |
Shiffman 99[63] | Computer based guideline implementation | RCT: 9, NRCT: 01 time series: 10, | clinicians and other information providers in HIC | Guideline adherence | No | Improved in 14 of 18 studies | |
Documentation | Improved in 4 of 4 studies. | ||||||
Tan 12 (telemedicine)[64] | Telemedicine technology focused on education and support to the parents or caretakers of newborn infants receiving intensive care. | 1 RCT | NICU staff in Indonesia | Length of hospital stay | Yes | -2.10 (-18.85-14.65) |