Performance Incentives for Global Health Potential and Pitfalls

Health systems in most low-income countries are under-resourced and underused, failing to meet the needs of those who need health care the most. But what if health service providers-or even patients-were rewarded partially on the basis of their performance? Based on a review of experiences to date, the authors of this volume argue that performance incentives have great potential to improve health care for the world's poor. They are one way to use funding dedicated to individual diseases or interventions to strengthen core health system functions.

Rena Eichler is president of Broad Branch Associates, a leader in the design, implementation, and evaluation of performance-based incentives in health. She is an economist with 15 years' experience working to improve the health sectors in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Ruth Levine is senior fellow and vice president for programs and operations at the Center for Global Development. She is a health economist with more than 15 years of experience designing and assessing the effects of social-sector programs in Latin America, Eastern Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.