Findings in Health Services Research Reported from Georgetown University (Healthcare seeking behaviour among self-help group households in Rural…

Findings in Health Services Research Reported from Georgetown University (Healthcare seeking behaviour among self-help group households in Rural Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Week -- Investigators publish new report on Health and Medicine. According to news reporting originating in Doha, Qatar, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "In recent years, supported by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), a number of community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes have been operating in rural India. Such schemes design their benefit packages according to local priorities."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Georgetown University, "This paper examines healthcare seeking behaviour among self-help group households with a view to understanding the implications for the benefit packages offered by such schemes. We use cross-sectional data collected from two of India's poorest states and estimate an alternative-specific conditional logit model to examine healthcare seeking behaviour. We find that the majority of respondents do access some form of care and that there is overwhelming use of private providers. Non-degree allopathic providers (NDAP) also called rural medical practitioners are the most popular providers. In the case of acute illnesses, proximity plays an important role in determining provider choice. For chronic illnesses, cost of care influences provider choice."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Given the importance of proximity in determining provider choice, benefit packages offered by CBHI schemes should consider coverage of transportation costs and reimbursement of foregone earnings."

For more information on this research see: Healthcare seeking behaviour among self-help group households in Rural Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India. BMC Health Services Research, 2016;16():1-13. BMC Health Services Research can be contacted at: Biomed Central Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd, Floor 6, London WC1X 8HL, England. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Health Services Research - www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting W.A. Raza, Georgetown University, Doha, Qatar. Additional authors for this research include E. Van de Poel, P. Panda, D. Dror and A. Bedi (see also Health and Medicine).

Keywords for this news article include: Doha, Asia, Qatar, Health and Medicine

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