University of Strathclyde Researchers Yield New Study Findings on Health Services (Implementation barriers and remedial strategies for community-based health insurance in Bangladesh: insights from national stakeholders): Health and Medicine – Health Services

2022 OCT 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New study results on health services have been published. According to news reporting from the University of Strathclyde by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Community-based health insurance (CBHI) is a part of the health system in Bangladesh, and overcoming the obstacles of CBHI is a significant policy concern that has received little attention. The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation barriers of voluntary CBHI schemes in Bangladesh and the strategies to overcome these barriers from the perspective of national stakeholders.”

The news editors obtained a quote from the research from University of Strathclyde: “This study is exploratory qualitative research, specifically case study design, using key informant interviews to investigate the barriers of CBHI that are faced during the implementation. Using a topic guide, we conducted thirteen semi-structured in-depth interviews with key stakeholders directly involved in the CBHI implementation process. The data were analyzed using the Framework analysis method. The implementation of CBHI schemes in Bangladesh is being constrained by several issues, including inadequate population coverage, adverse selection and moral hazard, lack of knowledge about health insurance principles, a lack of external assistance, and insufficient medical supplies. Door-to-door visits by local community-health workers, as well as regular promotional and educational campaigns involving community influencers, were suggested by stakeholders as ways to educate and encourage people to join the schemes. Stakeholders emphasized the necessity of external assistance and the design of a comprehensive benefits package to attract more people. They also recommended adopting a public-private partnership with a belief that collaboration among the government, microfinance institutions, and cooperative societies will enhance trust and population coverage in Bangladesh.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Our research concludes that systematically addressing implementation barriers by including key stakeholders would be a significant reform to the CBHI model, and could serve as a foundation for the planned national health protection scheme for Bangladesh leading to universal health coverage.”

For more information on this research see: Implementation barriers and remedial strategies for community-based health insurance in Bangladesh: insights from national stakeholders. BMC Health Services Research, 2022,22(1):1-13. (BMC Health Services Research - http://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com). The publisher for BMC Health Services Research is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08561-7.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Nurnabi Sheikh, Department of Management Science, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde. Additional authors for this research include Eunice Twumwaa Tagoe, Raisul Akram, Nausad Ali, Susan Howick, Alec Morton.

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