The role of contractual arrangements in improving health sector ...

Jordan
The main reasons behind the low utilization rate, as expressed by the hospital director and
highlighted by the results of a recent unpublished study (Baniawad, M., 2004) are summarized as
follows:
• Large percentages of people living in the hospital area are insured by the Ministry of Health
and RMS and they go to public hospitals.
• Uninsured poor people also seek treatment in highly subsidized public hospitals, mainly in
Al-Bashir Hospital.
• People who are wealthy and willing to pay usually go to private hospitals in West Amman,
for reasons of social prestige.
• The hospital site is inconvenient (high traffic, overcrowded, near a sewage treatment plant
and slaughterhouse) and does not attract patients from other areas in the region.
Main features
• The hospital provides the Ministry of Health with the full services of 40 beds (except
medicines and services of attending physicians).
• The Ministry of Health pays the hospital a flat rate of JD 1950 per bed per month (JD 65 per
day).
• The 40 leased beds are distributed by medical specialty as follows:
18 beds for medical cases.
18 beds for surgical cases.
4 beds for intensive care cases.
• One of the hospital floors with 36 beds is designated for the Ministry of Health patients.
Thus, the Ministry of Health patients do not mix with other private patients.
• The beds on the Ministry of Health floor are distributed equally among private, semi-private
and regular rooms to accommodate the different categories of Ministry of Health
beneficiaries.
• The hospital provides the following services for the leased beds:
Nursing services.
In-house doctors.
Diagnostic investigations excluding hormone tests, histopathology, MRI and angiography.
All services needed to perform surgical procedures including anesthesia agents and
medical gases.
Medical and non-medical supplies excluding artificial implants and limbs.
Administrative facilities and services, such as reception area, offices for Ministry liaison
staff, lounge and rest facilities for Ministry physicians, pharmacy, store, medical
records area, telephone facilities, patient transportation among hospitals in Amman.
• The Ministry of Health provides the following:
Attending (specialized) physicians to provide medical and surgical care for the Ministry of
Health patients.
Medicines and pharmacists.
135