Access, Bottlenecks, Costs, and Equity (ABCE) Project

The Access, Bottlenecks, Costs, and Equity (ABCE) project is a multipronged and multicountry research collaboration focused on understanding what drives and hinders health service provision. Results include the following:

• Assessing the capacity of health facilities to provide services across different levels of care, such as physical infrastructure; human resources for health; and stocks of medicines and functional equipment
• Comparing patient reports of their experiences at facilities, including wait time for care, interactions with providers, and expenses incurred during their visit
• Tracking trends in patient volumes and spending across facility types
• Quantifying the relationship between facility resources and production of servicesEstimating facility costs associated with different types of services, with an expanded section on facility costs of HIV/AIDS care
• Examining characteristics of facility-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs, including trends in drug regimens provided and patient retention

The ABCE project represents the work of many field team members and researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), as well as contributions from in-country partner organizations.