An integrated approach to assessing the efficiency of health financing in the Russian regions

Abstract

Subject. The article presents theoretical and historical considerations on the emergence of the contemporary healthcare system in Russia, developments in models and forms of public healthcare protection as public and economic constructs change. Objectives. The study substantiates versatile methodological approaches to evaluating the efficiency of healthcare finance regionally. Methods. Based on the integrated method of factor analysis, the methodological approach evaluates some components of efficiency, i.e. available budgetary finance and resources, social and medical efficiency. To evaluate each type of efficiency, we determines socio-economic, medical and demographic indicators split into blocks. Results. We examined the model of the contemporary one-source finance of the Russian healthcare in regions and provided a detailed account of all cash flows and influx. The article analyzes the existing methodological approaches to evaluating the efficiency of healthcare finance, marks a wide spectrum of relevant issues pointed out by contemporary researchers. The technique was tested with the case of the healthcare systems in the Perm Krai, Sverdlovsk Oblast and Samara Oblast, and the comparative approach to evaluating the regional healthcare and the national indicators. Thus, we found critical points and challenging areas in the healthcare systems of the analyzable regions. Conclusions and Relevance. The methodological approach to evaluating the efficiency of regional healthcare finance we propose is versatile and applicable to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.