NU Health Results-Based Financing (2011-2015)

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Client

DFID

Project Location

Project Duration

4 years

Total Value

£13m

Value of Montrose Component

£5m

Situation

  • Northern Uganda is in transition from a fragile, post-conflict setting, recovering from 20 years of humanitarian crisis.
  • With the cessation of conflict in late 2006, people began moving back to their land and rebuilding their lives.
  • It has taken longer to re-establish access to nutrition and health services across the region.
  • Health systems remain weak and challenges remain around access, staff retention, quality of care, and the availability of essential medicines and health supplies.
  • The overarching goal of NU Health was to increase access to quality health care services in Northern Uganda.
  • This aligned with the Government of Uganda’s commitment to deliver equitable health care and to endorse the principle of ‘health care as a right’.

Solution

  • Montrose implemented the DFID-funded NU Health project, a controlled trial designed to assess the benefits of results-based financing relative to traditional input-based financing in delivering quality health care.
  • In health, the aim of RBF is to motivate individuals or teams to improve services through innovation and more accountable management of resources.

Impact

  • Diagnosis and treatment for many conditions were stronger under RBF.
  • Quality of Care scores were higher in the RBF region than in the IBF region.
  • Percentage of pneumonia cases treated correctly increased from 39% at baseline to 90% in Year 3.
  • Percentage of diarrhoea cases treated correctly rose from 44% at baseline to 91% in Year 3.
  • NU Health developed the capacity of district health teams to:
    • Act as independent verifiers of performance.
    • Provide effective supervision.
    • Perform efficient data management.