This book combines a comprehensive overview of the Brazilian hospital sector with in-depth analyses of the key elements of interest in promoting and ensuring excellence in hospital performance. It does so in an accessible manner and within the organizational and financial context of Brazil....

Hospitals are at the center of the health care universe in Brazil. When ill, many Brazilians go straight to the hospital for want of a family doctor or primary care network. Hospitals are a critical part of the government's budget, absorbing nearly 70 percent of public spending on health....

The Ministry of Health, Ghana, is engaged in developing new Human Resources for Health (HRH) Strategy (2001-15); one that tries to draw on some of the evidence pertaining to the dynamics of the health labor market. This study is one of several efforts by the World Bank to support the Ministry of...

Sustainable access to affordable, high-quality medicines is an important component in all health care systems but remains limited in many African countries. Supply and distribution of medicines are a fundamental aspect of the success of any health system. Disruptions to this supply undermine...

Ghana has come a long way in improving health outcomes and it performs reasonably well when compared to the other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, when its health outcomes are compared to other countries globally with similar incomes and health spending levels, its performance is...

Bureaucratic performance is a crucial determinant of economic growth. Little is known about how to improve it in resource-constrained settings. This study describes a field trial of a social recognition intervention to improve record keeping in clinics in two Nigerian states, replicating the...