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Measuring Health Systems Performance

Challenge

Institutions that organize and deliver health services (i.e., national and local governments, NGOs, private sector) often face systemic weaknesses and challenges that impair their ability to provide affordable, quality health care services. These include: inadequate and untimely national and local government allocations to the health sector and/or health institutions with low capacity to absorb and use allocated funds to address priority needs; low-skilled, overworked, and poorly managed health workers with few incentives to reward good performance; or broadly speaking, the health sector’s inability to operationalize health policies and programs.

Approach

The Health Systems 20/20 approach addresses operational challenges by assisting countries to adopt effective systems and processes in planning (strategic planning, program management, facilities operations), financial management (budgeting, accounting, audit, procurement) and human resources management (workforce planning, training and development, performance-based management). Adopting best practices in health operations promotes transparency and accountability (governance), strengthens institutional ability to use systematic approaches in operations (capacity building), and can lead to effective implementation and sustainability of health financing schemes (financing).