Вакансія: Health Facility Financing Consultant

1. Background

The Local Health System Sustainability Project (LHSS) under the USAID Integrated Health Systems IDIQ helps low- and middle-income countries transition to sustainable, self-financed health systems as a means to support access to universal health coverage. The project works with partner countries and local stakeholders to reduce financial barriers to care and treatment, ensure equitable access to essential health services for all people, and improve the quality of health services. Led by Abt Associates, the five-year, $209 million project will build local capacity to sustain strong health system performance, supporting countries on their journey to self-reliance and prosperity.

In Ukraine, LHSS supports the rapid and rational scale-up of telemedicine capacity in the context of the Russian invasion that began in February 2022 and helps the GOU integrate urgent telemedicine support investments into the health system. LHSS works with MOH and the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) in building a more sustainable, resilient healthcare system by helping the GOU develop financing arrangements that include telemedicine services; engaging with private sector partners to reach vulnerable populations with telemedicine services; addressing quality concerns around telehealth; and creating an enabling environment for digital health applications.

2. Objectives

The main objective of this consultancy is to provide technical expertise and contribute to the LHSS Ukraine workstream to understand the cost structure and the quantity of average costs of medical services using telemedicine at different levels of care/types of providers. The consultant will work together with another national costing consultant to complete this assignment.

Specific objectives include:

1. Maintain regular contact with Abt’s technical team to ensure the quality and timeliness of the assessment.
2. Liaise with selected health facilities, NHSU and local health authorities during the assignment.
3. Establish and maintain close coordination with NHSU.
4. Conduct a rapid assessment (desk review and KIIs) of existing regulations, methodologies, NHSU costing practices and recent costing studies to inform the development of PMG in Ukraine.
5. Review existing reporting forms at the facility level (cost and service provision/utilization reporting to NHSU) to identify gaps in information.
6. Contribute to the design of the costing exercise (methodology, selection criteria for reference facilities, etc.). Considered approach – top-down and bottom-up costing. Discuss and agree on a proposed approach with NHSU.
7. Work with selected health facilities to collect/verify cost and service utilisation data using an agreed instrument.
8. Together with a national costing consultant, analyze data and estimate unit costs by services, providers, levels of care, and cost classification.
9. Produce reports for each facility participated in the study; share and discuss results.
10. Produce a report on consolidated cost data analysis and recommendations for NHSU to use the results to inform the 2024 PMG revision process.
11. Present results to NHSU and health providers and NHSU.

3. Deliverables

Period of performance

The total estimated LOE is 30 working days from May 1 – August 10, 2023.

Qualifications, skills, experience, and languages

Qualifications

• Degree in Sciences and formal training in Economics, Public Health or a related field.
• Knowledge of costing methodologies and approaches for calculating the cost of medical services in Ukraine.
• Basic understanding of health spending mechanisms in Ukraine.

Experience

• Minimum 3 years of experience in collecting, processing and analyzing data gathered from health service providers.
• Minimum 2 years of experience in developing the methodology for the calculation of medical services related to hospitals, primary health care and/or other health services.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in working with/at/in NHSU.
• Strong experience in cost-accounting methodology.
• Hands-on experience with collecting, processing and analyzing data.

Skills/Knowledge

• Ability to work with a team and deliver outputs on a tight deadline.
• Good understanding of the budget processes of the NHSU.
• Strong interpersonal skills, and ability to work independently without supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to manage collaborations between multiple organizations.
• Demonstrate good report-writing skills in Ukrainian.

Languages

• Fluency in Ukrainian and a basic level of English are required.

Differently abled people are highly encouraged to apply. This includes people classified as “Persons with disabilities” according to the GOU. Please use the following link to apply: https://egpy.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/JoinAbt/job/103443.