Providing effective health care in poor countries is an essential component to economic development and poverty reduction. Unfortunately donors supporting this endeavor often find that resources given are not matched by desired gains.
The output-based aid (OBA) model of financing seeks to address this by paying healthcare providers directly for services rendered instead of paying for the service provision up front. However, the program management is information intensive, necessitating much paperwork to track and reimburse payment claims. Smartphones (mobile phones with advanced features) have the potential to alleviate this burden.
Based on recent work in Uganda we have identified some of the constraints and realities of the context in which these devices could improve the quality and speed of payment claims. In collaboration with Marie Stopes International and Microcare, we propose to deploy a number of smartphones for use in the Uganda OBA project, with dual goals of reducing claim processing time and improving communication between the health care providers and the management agency running the OBA project.
Providing effective health care in poor countries is an essential component to economic development and poverty reduction. Unfortunately donors supporting this endeavor often find that resources given are not matched by desired gains.
The output-based aid (OBA) model of financing seeks to address this by paying healthcare providers directly for services rendered instead of paying for the service provision up front. However, the program management is information intensive, necessitating much paperwork to track and reimburse payment claims. Smartphones (mobile phones with advanced features) have the potential to alleviate this burden.
Based on recent work in Uganda we have identified some of the constraints and realities of the context in which these devices could improve the quality and speed of payment claims. In collaboration with Marie Stopes International and Microcare, we propose to deploy a number of smartphones for use in the Uganda OBA project, with dual goals of reducing claim processing time and improving communication between the health care providers and the management agency running the OBA project.
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