The Weekly Roundup of Innovative Health News
There's a rise in the call for performance evaluation
This week has shown that there is a definite demand for performance tracking, both from outside assessors and within the private health system itself.
CHMI is excited to debut our new Reported Results initiative at iHEA’s 8th World Congress on Health Economics in Toronto, July 10-13. CHMI will present in a poster session on the initiative, which is designed to showcase programmatic achievements in areas including health outputs, quality, affordability, and sustainability – key ways to tell what programs are really working. CHMI’s poster features quantifiable programmatic results from the Bangladesh Demand-Side Financing Pilot, Operation ASHA in India, Hygeia Community Health Plan in Nigeria, and CHITS in the Philippines, all of which will be made public on their CHMI profiles.
CHMI’s partner the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) is also now looking to see which are the most innovative health programs in the Philippines. What programs target the poor, show impact, promise sustainability, and use appropriate technology? These were among the criteria for rating programs at the 2nd National Roundtable on Health Market Innovations organized by PIDS. A “top-six” list of outstanding Health Market Innovations will be announced later this year, but all programs considered are being publicly documented on CHMI’s programs database.
In case you missed it, check out our photos from the Philippines, and video interview with program managers.
Similarly, a Duke University professor, in partnership with Sambodhi Research and Communication Pvt., Ltd, COHESIVE-India and the Institute for Social and Economic Research on Development and Democracy, or ISERDD, will begin a study using funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assess the impact of the World Health Partners Telemedicine Program, based in Bihar, India. In addition to looking at program results, the study, called The Bihar Evaluation of Social Franchising and Telemedicine (BEST) study will also assess the costs of the disease versus the costs of intervention.
In addition to performance tracking through outside evaluation, some companies are taking quality assurance into their own hands. mPedigree brought news of a collaboration with Themis Medicare of India to our attention. Themis will use mPedigree's phone app to verify the authenticity and quality of their medicines. With a simple and free text message, customers can now make sure that the medicine they need is the one they are receiving at the pharmacy and ensure their own and their family’s safety.
A final, less obvious form of assessment is that of those using the treatments within a nation. India has seen a huge upswing in the amount of medical tourists coming into the country from both Europe and the United States. Medical tourism is a major driver of growth to the Indian health market, which saw 200,000 foreign patients last year and expects to bring in $2 billion a year by 2012. As more money comes into the system, more improvements can be made and higher quality services can be provided to those who partake.
Its clear that demand for performance and results tracking is certainly on the rise, both from the consumer and the supplier. Does your program have results to share? Click here to learn more and submit results.
Have a great weekend and please take a moment to follow us on Twitter at CHMInnovations or like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest at CHMI and innovations in the health market.