180041 Strengthening the private sector to improve reproductive health outcomes in Romania

Monday, October 27, 2008: 1:30 PM

Lisa Tarantino, MIA , Banking on Health Project, Banyan Global, New York, NY
     
Romania is a model in Eastern Europe for the tremendous gains achieved in women's health over the past ten years, including dramatic drops in rates of abortion and maternal mortality. The nearly 11,000 family doctors there are a major factor in this success. Their formerly government run practices have been privatized and are now contracted-out to provide a basic package of health care through a national health insurance scheme. Despite their vital role in health care provision in Romania, the USAID-funded Banking on Health project (BoH) assessed in 2006 that family doctors were struggling to remain viable. BoH designed a package of technical assistance to help ensure that the gains achieved in women's health would be sustained beyond donor assistance.

BoH conducted market research on private providers and distributors of family planning and reproductive health services including a national survey of 1,215 family doctors.

Findings fed into training for family doctors to enhance their viability, assistance to financial institutions, baseline data for monitoring, and policy dialogue.

BoH partnered with private and public sector stakeholders. Results were monitored with learning assessments and surveys of providers and lenders.

Results

BoH is reporting the following outcomes:

• Policy changes that have impacted family doctors' sustainability and ability to invest in improvements.

• Significant increases in commercial financing of the private health sector.

• Improved financial viability and increased provision of family planning products and services among providers.

Policy Implications

Most governments need to maximize limited funds to provide public health services. The presenter will discuss applicability to other countries.

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify the unique needs of small scale private health care providers to offer sustainable family planning and reproductive health services. 2. Define the decision factors that determine whether and how much private health care providers invest in their practices to improve or expand services. 3. Recognize factors that influence commercial banks’ willingness to offer favorable financing terms to the private medical sector. 4. Apply lessons from Romania to other countries where contracting out may be an effective tool for the government to manage the delivery of family planning and reproductive health services.

Keywords: International Family Planning, International Systems

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the manager of the research and project results I am presenting.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Public or Private: Options for Improving Sustainability
See more of: Population, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health