Financing the health care delivery budget in the Ghana Armed Forces (The Case of the 37 Military Hospital)
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Date
2003-11-25
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Abstract
Health care delivery is undoubtedly an important factor for raising and maintaining the morale of troops in the Ghana Armed Forces. Financing healthcare delivery in the Ghana Armed Forces seriously constrains the effective administration of the hospital. As the financial pressure increases, the debate on factors that account for the influence of the sourcing of finance becomes more central to Military planners.
This study was undertaken to assess the financing of the health care delivery at the
37 Military Hospitals. The study was descriptive and employed both qualitative and
quantitative approaches. The quantitative approach involved exit poll interviews of
200 patients while the qualitative involved Key Informant interviews of eight key staff
members in the Ghana Armed Forces. In addition to these data collection methods,
background information was also gathered through a review of medical records of the
37 Military Hospital and records in other health facilities.
Findings from the study indicated that sources of financing the healthcare delivery at the hospital were obtained from budgetary allocations as well as internally generated funds (IGF) from user fees. IGF constituted more than 50% of the total yearly revenue of the hospital. The study also showed that non-entitled clients use the services of the hospital more than the entitled. The main reasons were the fact that” staff at Military Hospital do not go on strike” and the availability and affordability of drugs at the chemist in the hospital. The study further revealed that malaria, upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), diarrhoea, skin and worms related diseases, body (musculoskeletal) and abdominal (peptic ulcer) pains, hypertension, asthma and chicken pox were the top ten leading causes of outpatient visits. The calculated average cost of treatment per outpatient was ¢52,772.88 for the entitled (total estimated cost was ¢884,737,500 divided by 16765 cases) and ¢56,458.63 for the non-entitled (¢1,272,182,500 divided by 22533 cases). The study also revealed that the 2000 budgetary allocation of ¢2,782,000,000 meant to cater for the 68079 (implying an average cost of ¢40,864.29 per a visit) entitled clients was inadequate, as the estimated treatment cost for the outpatient visits alone by the entitled (¢52,772.88) was more than the budget allocation (¢40,864.29).
A significant recommendation (based on the findings of this study) is that the transparency in the finances of the Military to Civilians and donors might increase their understanding of the needs of the military and makes more resources available to the military health sector. The budget of the hospital should also reflect cost of services. In short the financial claims of the hospital must be rationally assessed in terms of cost-effectiveness to ensure the adequacy of the budgetary allocations.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Community
Health, School of Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the award of MSc.degree in Health Services Planning and Management, 2003