Objectives To describe the mechanism of means testing used in health programs for targeting poor population and to describe how the authors have assessed effects of means testing approaches where applicable. Method We searched 24 electronic resources which included evidence-based, health, economic and social databases, 7 international institution websites, grey literature review resources and Google. Screening and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers separately, and the differences were discussed by the third person or a review group. We systematically analyzed the included studied by theme analysis method from different dimensions. We also described the evaluation outcomes by the authors. Result A total of 10244 records were searched, and 58 studies were included after screening by title, abstract and full texts. A total of 13 studies described verified means testing (VMT) conducted as a targeting method in the US; simple testing method (SMT) was conducted in 16 countries; 26 studies described how proxy means testing (PMT) was used in 14 countries; andmixed means testing (MA) was conducted in 14 countries. Means testing as a targeting method was widely used in four health programs which included health insurance, cash transfer, provision of free health service and fee structure. The target population was poor. Only few studies analyzed the outcomes of means testing; 3 studies analyzed under-coverage and 11studies analyzed leakage as their indicators. Scare cost information could be obtained from the included studies. Conclusion Means testing is widely used in various health programs for targeting the eligible population in distributing benefits, especially in developing countries. Targeting as a means for allocating health resources is particularly important in LMICs for their constraints in budgets available for health. Meanwhile, a universal coverage strategy has become a worldwide issue, and how current health resources can be used equitably and efficiently is a concern from the policy practice. Means testing, as one of the tools in targeting eligible population, would help in this process.
Objective To assess the effectiveness of outreach strategies for expanding insurance coverage of children who are eligible for health insurance schemes. Methods We searched The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue 2), PubMed (1951 to 2010), EMBASE (1966 to 2009), PsycINFO (1967 to 2009) and other relevant databases and websites. In addition, we searched the reference lists of included studies and relevant reviews, and carried out a citation search for included studies to find more potentially relevant studies. Randomized controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, controlled before-after studies and interrupted time series which evaluated the effects of outreach strategies on increasing health insurance coverage for children. The included strategies were increasing awareness of schemes, modifying enrolment, improving management and organization of insurance schemes, and mixed strategies. Two review authors independently screened literatures, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. We narratively summarized the data. Results We included two studies, both from the United States. One randomized controlled trial study with a low risk of bias showed that community-based case managers who provided health insurance information, application support were effective in enrolling Latino American children into health insurance schemes (RR=1.68, 95%CI 1.44 to 1.96, n=257). The second quasi-randomized controlled trial, with an unclear risk of bias, indicated that handing out insurance application materials in hospital emergency departments can increase enrolment of children into health insurance (RR=1.50, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.18, n=223). Conclusion The two studies included in this review provide evidence that providing health insurance information and application assistance and handing out application materials in hospital emergency departments can probably both improve insurance coverage of children. But the application of the interventions to other countries beyond the US still depends on contextual factors of health medical systems. Further studies evaluating the effectiveness of different outreach strategies for expanding health insurance coverage of children in different countries are needed, with careful attention given to study design.
It is the key for evidence-base decision to gain the high quality evidences. As a valuable method,systematic review has been widely used in medical areas with the improvement of the method, but it cannot be useddirectly in health policy field, because the characters of the health policy such as research topics, methods and objectives.The Center for Health Management and Policy of Shandong University has made some researches which focus on themethod under the support from the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (WHO) from 2006. We haveexplored the two-stage systematic review method of health policy researches and applied it into reality. The purpose of thisarticle is to introduce the key technical of this method, which include quality assessment of the literatures, analysis andintegrated approaches. We also put forward the work which needs to be continued in the future.
Objectives To describe the factors determining choice of health financing systems. Methods Search words chosen by both health policy experts and the review search coordinators after discussion and pilot. 19 electronic databases, 2 international health institutes websites, 2 grey literature databases, and search engine Google were included in the databases. Any literature about health financing reforms on country level was included. Pre-designed data extraction form was used for collecting the information. The data was analyzed and described by pre-designed analytic framework.Result A total of 59 studies were included in this review. The driving forces included political, economic, social, and health systems factors. Development level of economy was the most crucial factor for transformation of health financing systems. The health system could directly led to the transition between different health systems, both Italy and France transform their financing system from social health insurance to national health system. The key persons such as premier of Thailand and Germany, leader of political and social organization in Israel and Korea are the driving forces of health financing reforms. Conclusion Developing countries can learn from the countries which have achieved universal coverage through health financing reform. Underlying factors influencing formulation of a health financing system need to be considered before taking actions in reforming the current system. Efforts in transforming the health financing systems need to be made from political, economic, and health systems sides.
Objectives To describe the range of strategies for expanding health insurance coverage for vulnerable population and how the authors have assessed these strategies. Methods Search words were chosen by both health policy experts and search coordinators after discussion and pilot. What was searched included 28 electronic databases, 12 websites of health institutions, 3 grey literature databases and search engine Google. Any report of implemented strategies to expand health insurance coverage for vulnerable population was included. Pre-designed data extraction form was used for collecting strategies and study methods of the included studies. Then the extracted information was analyzed and described. Results A total of 86 studies were included, most of which were the ones in the U.S. and the main targeted population was children. In terms of the study objective, 61 studies aimed to describe strategies and 25 ones are to evaluate effectiveness of the strategies. All strategies could be categorized into 6 groups based on the theoretical framework: changing eligibility criteria of health insurance, increasing awareness, making premium affordable, innovating enrollment approaches, improving health care delivery and strengthening management capacity. Most of the studies evaluating effectiveness were retrospective analysis of longitude data, and there were also two experimental studies. Conclusions The U.S. and other developed countries have implemented a great many strategies for expanding insurance coverage, while few strategies and related studies are found in developing countries. However, developing countries can learn from the developed countries in extending health insurance coverage. The 25 included studies evaluating strategies need further systematic reviews to assess the effectiveness of these strategies.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of pay-for-performance (P4P) for primary care physicians (PCPs). MethodsThe Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, EMbase, Web of Science, PubMed, Dissertations and Theses Database, EconLit, CNKI, WanFang Data, IDEAS, and POPLINE were searched to collect studies on the efficacy of P4P for PCPs from inception to May 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Statistical analysis was then performed by using RevMan 5.4 software. ResultsA total of 10 studies were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that P4P incentives possibly improved child immunization status (RR=1.27, 95%CI 1.19 to 1.36, P<0.001), slightly improved primary care physicians’ prescribing of guideline-recommended antihypertensive medicines compared with existing payment method (RR=1.07, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.12, P=0.006), and improved a mixed outcome measure of service provision and patient health outcomes (RR=1.13, 95%CI 1.04 to 1.23, P=0.004). ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that P4P possibly increases the quantity of health service provision and improve quality of service provision for targeted populations. The effects of P4P on health outcomes is uncertain. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusions.
Objective To describe and analyze both the direct impact of emergency service (ES) cost sharing and the indirect impact of drug cost sharing on emergency service utilization (ESU) in health insurance plans. Methods The author searched18 electronic databases which were in the evidence-based, public health, economic and social categories, respectively, 2 grey literature review resources and Google search engine, and the retrieval time was from June 21st, 2011 to September 19th, 2011. According to the inclusion criteria, data screening and extraction were conducted by two reviewers independently, and the differences were discussed by a third person or a review group. The theme analysis was adopted to systematically analyze both the direct and indirect impacts of cost sharing on ESU. Additionally, the side effects were analyzed too. Results Among total 22 studies included, 13 described the direct impact of ESU cost sharing, while the other 9 referred to the indirect impact of drug cost sharing. There were mainly 5 categories of health plans involved in. The results showed that, ESU could respond to the cost sharing: ESU decreased when the proportion of copayment increased, and vice versa. The increase of drug copayment impaired the use of essential drugs and finally increased ESU. However, a modest ES copayment decreased the irrational ESU rather than the rational ESU. Conclusion To the insured, the increase of ES cost sharing would not decrease the rational ESU and has no adverse events, while the increase of drug cost sharing would lead to some adverse events such as the increase of ESU. To the uninsured, the impact of cost sharing needs to be further disccussed. So this review suggests, the proper ES self-payment should be introduced into the health insurance plans according to local economic status, resident income, etc.; in addition, the drug self-payment ratio should be determined cautiously.
Objective To systematically review the effects of cost sharing in health insurance schemes, so as to provide evidence for better designing cost sharing ratio in health insurance scheme. Methods The search terms were discussed, tested and then chosen by subject matter experts and search coordinators. The total 20 databases including comprehensive scope, health, economics, sociology, and grey literatures were searched to retrieve all the description or evaluation studies on the effects of cost sharing, such as health services utilization, financial burden or moral hazard. The information from the included studies was extracted into a pre-designed data extraction form, and then it was analyzed and summarized. Results A total of 73 studies were included, covering 17 countries like Australia, Canada, and China, etc. The results of statistical analyses showed that, a) Cost sharing methods were applied to every kind of health insurance scheme. The target population included general population, the elder, the poor, those with chronic disease and children, etc. The services covered clinic, hospitalization, mental health, prevention and drug; and b) The effects brought from cost sharing included: From full fee to cost sharing scheme, the enrollee in developing countries increased their health care utilization, and decreased their financial burden. From full coverage to cost sharing, the utilization of health services decreased in developed countries, but the cost of health insurance could not be reduced, and some undesirable effects were brought due to the decrease of both essential health service utilization and essential drugs compliance.