Performance-Based Incentive for Improving Quality of Maternal Health Care Services in Bangladesh

Mohammad Masudul Alam, Population Council
Ubaidur Rob, Population Council
Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Population Council
Farhana Akter, Population Council

Improving the quality of maternal health care services is one of the key challenges in Bangladesh. Often service providers are less motivated to provide quality services in the public health facilities due to non-existence of financial incentives. An operations research study examined the impact of performance-based incentive for service providers at the institutional level to improve quality maternal health care services. Quality of care were assessed through monitoring visits of professionals from higher health facilities, which contributed to improve quality score form 55 percent to 78 percent in 14 months of intervention. Findings also reveal significant improvement in antenatal and postnatal counseling, bed occupancy at the facilities, partograph during delivery, eclampsia management, infection prevention and sterilization practices, waste management and record-keeping (p<0.01). Performance-based incentive has potential for motivating service providers in improving quality maternal health care influential for increasing the utilization of health facilities in Bangladesh.