Socioeconomic inequality in informal payments for health services among Iranian households: a national pooled study

BACKGROUND

There is limited evidence on the prevalence and socioeconomic inequality in informal payments (IP) of households in the Iranian health system. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of IP and related socioeconomic inequalities among Iranian households in all provinces.

METHOD

Data on Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) for 91,360 households were used to examine the prevalence and inequality in informal health sector payments in the years 2016 to 2018. The Normalized Concentration Index (NC) was used to examine inequality in these payments and the decomposition analysis by the Wagstaff approach was used to determine the share of variables affecting the measured inequality.

RESULTS

Of the total households, 7,339 (7.9%) reported IP for using health services. Urban households had higher IP (10%) compared to rural ones (5.42%). Also, the proportion of households with IP in 2016 (11.69%) was higher than in 2017 (9.9%), and 2018 (4.60%). NC for the study population was 0.129, which shows that the prevalence of IP is significantly higher in well-off households. Also, NC was 0.213 (p < 0.0001) and -0.019 for urban and rural areas, respectively (p > 0.05). Decomposition analysis indicated that income, sex of head of household, and the province of residence have the highest positive contribution to measured inequality (with contributions of 156.2, 45.8, and 25.6%, respectively).

CONCLUSION

There are a significant prevalence and inequality in IP in Iran's health system and important variables have shaped it. On the whole, inequality was pro-rich. This may lead to increasing inequality in access to quality services in the country. Our findings showed that previous health policies such as regulatory tools, and the health transformation plan (HTP) have not been able to control IP in the health sector in the desired way. It seems that consumer-side policies focusing on affluent households, and high-risk provinces can play an important role in controlling this phenomenon.

Reasons for informal payments from the perspective of health care providers and recipients: a qualitative study in Iran

Background

Informal payments are one of the major obstacles to health system reform in many developing countries, and its elimination is on the agenda of health system policymakers in many countries, including Iran. This study was conducted to identify the causes of informal payments in the Iranian health system.

Methods

This was a qualitative and exploratory study. The study environment included the Ministry of Health, physicians' offices, medical universities, and hospitals and health centers. The study population included health care providers (physicians and hospital staff, managers, supervisors, and nurses) and health care recipients (patients or patients who had a history of dealing with informal payments). Data were collected using open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. Snowball sampling method was used to select managers, chief executive officers (CEOs) and nurses. Convenience sampling was used to select physicians due to their lack of participation and cooperation. Content analysis method was used to analyze the data.

Results

Reasons for informal payments were divided into 4 themes including: Economic factors (improper tariff valuation of services; failure to increase tariffs proportionate to inflation; lack of comprehensive participation of stakeholders in determining tariffs; tariff inconsistency in the public, private and charity sectors; etc.); socio-cultural factors (decreased social capital of the medical community among the people; improving the quality of life; incorrect comparison of providers' income levels with the income of doctors in other countries; existence of a culture of gratitude and appreciation; health as a priority for society; pride of service recipients; pride of service providers; etc.); service delivery challenges (high professional skills of the doctor; use of modern medical equipment; the monopoly of some doctors, etc.) and legal-political factors (inadequate monitoring by upstream organizations; lack of strict rules; difficulty of proving informal payments; presence of stakeholders in management and policy making processes).

Conclusions

Knowing the causes of informal payments can help reduce or eliminate it. The results of this study identified the causes of informal payments in the Iranian health system. Accurate knowledge of the needs and motivations of both health care providers and recipients can be effective in accurately identifying and eliminating this phenomenon.

Cost of childbirth in Upper West Region of Ghana: a cross-sectional study

Background

Out-of-pocket payment (OOPP) is reported to be a major barrier to seeking maternal health care especially among the poor and can expose households to a risk of catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment.This study examined the OOPPs women made during childbirth in the Upper West region of Ghana.

Methods

We carried out a cross-sectional study and interviewed women who gave birth between January 2013 and December 2017. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, place of childbirth, as well as direct cost (medical and non-medical) were collected from respondents. The costs of childbirth were estimated from the patient perspective. Logistics regression was used to assess the factors associated with catastrophic payments cost. All analyses were done using STATA 16.0.

Results

Out of the 574 women interviewed, about 71% (406/574) reported OOPPs on their childbirth. The overall average direct medical and non-medical expenditure women made on childbirth was USD 7.5. Cost of drugs (USD 8.0) and informal payments (UDD 5.7) were the main cost drivers for medical and non-medical costs respectively. Women who were enrolled into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) spent a little less (USD 7.5) than the uninsured women (USD 7.9). Also, household childbirth expenditure increased from primary health facilities level (community-based health planning and services compound = USD7.2; health centre = USD 6.0) to secondary health facilities level (hospital = USD11.0); while home childbirth was USD 4.8. Overall, at a 10% threshold, 21% of the respondents incurred catastrophic health expenditure. Regression analysis showed that place of childbirth and household wealth were statistically significant factors associated with catastrophic payment.

Conclusions

The costs of childbirth were considerably high with a fifth of households spending more than one-tenth of their monthly income on childbirth and therefore faced the risk of catastrophic payments and impoverishment. Given the positive effect of NHIS on cost of childbirth, there is a need to intensify efforts to improve enrolment to reduce direct medical costs as well as sensitization and monitoring to reduce informal payment. Also, the identified factors that influence cost of childbirth should be considered in strategies to reduce cost of childbirth.

The red packet phenomenon from the perspective of young Chinese doctors: a questionnaire study

BACKGROUND

In China, informal payments in the medical profession, which workers in the public health care system receive from patients in the course of performing profession-related activities, are usually referred to as "red packets" (Hongbao ). The phenomenon of red packets is widespread and has become one of the most negative factors affecting the doctor-patient relationship in China. Our study aims to explore the situation concerning the phenomenon of red packets in China after the "Red Packet Ban".

METHODS

A questionnaire was developed including general demographic characteristics, asking whether they had ever been offered red packets, whether they had ever accepted red packets, their reasons for accepting the first red packet and so on. We recruited a total of 413 doctors to complete this questionnaire and conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 18 doctors from the initial group.

RESULTS

Our data shows that 73 doctors claimed to have accepted red packets, accounting for 17.7% (73/413) of all respondents and 27.8% (73/263) of doctors who had been provided with red packets. 23.2% of red packets were offered after the operation and 67.1% of the doctors declared that the main reason for accepting the red packet was that they "refused the red packets more than once, but the patients/family members were sincere and it was difficult to refuse." The total amount of the red packets they received each month accounted for no more than 5% of their income.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) The acceptance of red packets does exist among young doctors in China, but shows a significant decrease compared to previous studies. (2) There has been a sharp rise in the proportion of gratitude red packets. (3) Patients should also be educated regarding their behaviour in providing red packets.

Informal payments in public hospitals in Malawi: the case of Kamuzu Central Hospital

Background

Informal payments in public health facilities act as a barrier to accessing quality health services, especially for poor people. This research aimed to investigate informal payments for health care services at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), a public referral hospital in Malawi. Results of this study provide evidence on the prevalence and influencing factors of informal payments for health care so that relevant policies and strategies may be developed to address this problem.

Methods

This study employed a mixed methods research design. The quantitative study had a sample size of 295 patients and guardians. The qualitative study had 7 key informant interviews (with health workers, health managers and policy makers) and 3 focus group discussions (FGDs) with guardians. Each FGD included 10 participants. Thus, in total, the qualitative sample comprised 52 participants. Quantitative data was analyzed using Excel and STATA. Qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic content analysis approach.

Results

80% of patients and guardians had knowledge of informal payments. Approximately 47% of respondents admitted making informal payments to access health services, and 87% of informal payments were made at the request of a health worker. Lack of knowledge, fear and desperation among patients and guardians, low salaries of health workers, and lack of effective disciplinary measures, were reported as key factors influencing informal payments. Regression analysis results showed that occupation and gender were the main determinants of informal payments.

Conclusions

Informal payments exacerbate inequality in access to free public health services. Particularly, poor people have limited access to health services when informal payments are demanded. This practice is unethical and infringes on people’s rights to universal access to health care. There is a need to strengthen the public health care system by formulating deliberate policies that will deter informal payments in Malawi.

Informal Payments by Patients in Central and Eastern Europe during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Institutional Perspective

Confronted with a global pandemic, public healthcare systems are under pressure, making access to healthcare services difficult for patients. This provides fertile ground for using illegal practices such as informal payments to gain access. This paper aims to evaluate the use of informal payments by patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and the institutions that affect the prevalence of this practice. Various measurements of formal and informal institutions are here investigated, namely the acceptability of corruption, the level of trust, transparency, and performance of the healthcare system. To do so, a logistic regression of 10,859 interviews with patients conducted across 11 Central and Eastern Europe countries in October-December 2020 is employed. The finding is that there are large disparities between countries in the prevalence of informal payments, and that the practice is more likely to occur where there are poorer formal and informal institutions, namely higher acceptability of corruption, lower trust in authorities, lower perceived transparency in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, difficult access to, and poor quality of, healthcare services, and higher mortality rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings suggest that policy measures for tackling informal payments need to address the current state of the institutional environment.

Supply-side factors influencing informal payment for healthcare services in Tanzania

Informal payments for healthcare are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. They are often regressive, potentially limiting access to quality healthcare, particularly for the most vulnerable, and can have catastrophic consequences for households. Yet there is little empirical research that uses theory-driven hypotheses to explore what influences informal payments and, especially, from health workers' perspectives. Consequently, we have explored the characteristics of health workers and facilities influencing informal payments in Tanzania, examining two hypotheses: health workers with power and position in the system are more likely to receive informal payments, and transparency and accountability measures can be bypassed by those who can game the system. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 432 health workers from 42 public health facilities (hospitals and health centres) in 12 district councils from Pwani and Dar es Salam regions in Tanzania. Our dependent variable was whether the health worker has ever asked for or been given informal payments or bribes, while explanatory variables were measured at the individual and facility level. Given the hierarchical structure of the data, we used a multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression to explore the determinants. Twenty-seven percent of 432 health workers ever engaged in informal payment. This was more common amongst younger (<35 years) health workers and those higher in the hierarchy (specialists and heads of departments). Those receiving entitlements and benefits in a timely manner and who were subject to continued supervision were significantly less likely to receive informal payments. The likelihood of engaging in informal payments varied among health workers, consistent with our first hypothesis, but evidence on the second hypothesis remains mixed. Thus, policy responses should address both individual and system-level factors, including ensuring adequate and progressive health sector financing, better and timely remuneration of frontline public health providers, and enhanced governance and supervision.

New insight into the informal patients' payments on the evidence of literature: a systematic review study

BACKGROUND

Nowadays, a growing literature reveals how patients use informal payments to seek either better treatment or additional services, but little systematic review has been accomplished for synthesizing the main factors. The purpose of this study was to analyze the content of literatures to demonstrate the factors for informal patient payments.

METHODS

In this systematic review study, PubMed, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library, Science Direct, Ovid, Scopus, and Iranian databases were investigated without time limitation for eligible English and Persian studies. Achieved data were analyzed using content analysis approach and MAXQDA 10 software.

RESULTS

Themes related to informal payments in external context of health system were demographic features of health service consumers, patient's personality features and social & cultural backgrounds of the community. Health system challenges' themes were about stewardship weakness, and sustainable financing and social protection weakness. These were followed by human resources' organizational behavior challenges, drugs, medical products, and services delivery provision process challenges and finally change management weakness for reducing and dealing with IPs.

CONCLUSION

It appears that improving the quality of health care services and accurate monitoring of delivery processes, along with performing some strategies for regulating payroll and medical tariffs, strict rules and regulations and improving health staff motivation, would be effective ways against informal payments. Improving the health insurance contribution, promoting transparency & accountability in health system especially in financing, identify precise control mechanism, using empower patient/public related approach, modifying community perception, reinforcing social resistance to unofficial payments and rebuilt lost social capital in health care are some of the other recommendations in this field. To practice these strategies, a comprehensive and systemic vision and approach is needed, however, the key point is that before applying any strategy the impact of this strategy on access, efficiency, equity, and other health systems' goals and policies should be investigated due to the consideration.