Management of Services

The way services are managed at the facility level. This includes: 1) organization and management of facility operations, including facility budgets; 2) routine collection and use of data to monitor quality and progress; 3) capability of managers to oversee, support, and enforce these processes; and 4) supportive supervision for staff.

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Timeliness

The ability of the health system to provide primary care services to patients when they need them, with acceptable and reasonable wait times and at days and times that are convenient to them.

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Safety

The practice of following procedures and guidelines in the delivery of PHC services in order to avoid harm to the people for whom care is intended.

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Efficiency

Efficiency refers to the ability of a health system to attain its desired objective(s) with the available resources, while minimizing waste and maximizing capacities to deliver care to those who need it.

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Effectiveness

Effectiveness measures whether health care and services are driven by evidence, adhere to established standards, and achieve their intended result.

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People-Centeredness

People-centeredness means organizing the health system around the comprehensive needs of people rather than individual diseases.

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First Contact Accessibility

The capacity of a primary care system to serve as the first point of contact, or a patient's entry point to the health system, for most of a person's health needs.

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Coordination

Coordination of care refers to the system's ability to oversee and manage patient care over time and across levels of care to ensure appropriate follow-up, minimize the risk of error, and prevent complications.

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Continuity

Continuity is the degree to which a patient experiences a series of discrete healthcare events as coherent and consistent with their medical needs and personal context.

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Comprehensiveness

The provision of holistic and appropriate care across promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, chronic and palliative service needs.

Indicators
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Existence of facility budgets and expenditures meeting criteria
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Professionalization of management
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Percentage of facilities with systems to support quality improvement
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Existence of supportive supervision system
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Management capability And leadership
Related Concepts

Delivering high-quality primary health care requires many elements of the health system working effectively together. This mapping explores how different concepts with the framework relate to one another.

Upstream elements are those that are required to develop or improve a particular concept. Absence or poor performance of an upstream element is expected to negatively impact the performance of the concept of focus.

Complementary elements are those where improvements or developments in this area will be mutually beneficial to the concept of focus but not required for improvement.

UPSTREAM CONCEPTS
COMPLEMENTARY CONCEPTS
UPSTREAM SUBDOMAINS
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Adjustment to Population Health Needs
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Funding & Allocation of Resources
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Multi-Sectoral Approach
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PHC Workforce
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Policy and Leadership
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Purchasing & Payment Systems
Management of Services
COMPLEMENTARY SUBDOMAINS
Information & Technology
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Efficient management practices are often supported by robust information systems for recording, transferring, and analyzing individual provider performance data. Information systems support data collection, transfer, and analysis and can help facility managers and leaders track progress towards targets and changes in performance over time. In addition, robust financial management information systems enable facilities to track and manage funds effectively.
Coordination
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Care coordination is a strategy that would be complimentary to the effective management of team-based care organization.
Population Health Management
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Community engagement mechanisms ensure community needs are taking into account in all aspects of service delivery and facility functioning. Additionally, local priority setting can improve use of funds in line with community needs, although it is not essential for funding allocation to be managed at the facility level.
Service Availability & Readiness
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Provider competence supports care teams to develop clinical competencies and qualities that make them likely to be strong team members. Provider motivation helps to ensure that team members reliably show up to work and fulfill their team responsibilities. Provider motivation mechanisms such as incentives and continuing professional development, among others, can support the successful implementation of performance measurement and improvement efforts. Finally, staff should be involved in and capacited to understand performance targets and gaps and support data interpretation and quality improvement efforts.
Improvement Strategies

Each PHCPI Improvement Strategy is designed to help decision-makers begin to plan and enact reforms within their own context by providing additional resources and evidence on the topic, as well as practical recommendations for action.

The explainer graphic below presents a quick overview of the concept of Management of Services. View the full Improvement Strategy on Management of Services to learn more

Management of Services explainer graphic
Potential Funding opportunities

Interested in understanding how this topic intersects with investment opportunities from major funding streams? The Global Frameworks Mapping provides a starting point to help identify and make connections between key PHC topics, relevant funding initiatives, and investment cases.

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Walking the Talk: Reimagining Primary Health Care After COVID-19
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UNICEF Health Strategy 2016-2030
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UHC in Africa: A Framework for Action
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The UNICEF Health Systems Strengthening Approach
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Supplies Partnership 2021-2030
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Strategy 2030: Achieving a Prosperous, Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Asia and the Pacific
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Population Data Thematic Fund
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Phase V (2021-2025)
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Operational Plan for Health, 2015–2020
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Maternal, Newborn & Child Health
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Maternal and Newborn Health Thematic Fund 2018-2022
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HIV and Universal Health Coverage - A guide for civil society
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Health Sector Framework Document
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Global Financing Facility
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Global Delivery Programs
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Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026
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Catalytic Investments
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2020-2022 Strategic Initiatives