World Bank approves $13.5 million for Serbia Health Project

The World Bank Board of Directors today approved a $13.5 million loan in additional financing for the Serbia Health Project. The aim of the project is to develop a sustainable, performance-oriented health care system where providers are rewarded for quality and efficiency.

Building on the achievements of the Serbia Health Project, additional financing will enable the Government of Serbia to scale up improvements in hospital care.

The Serbia Health Project has supported the initial reforms aimed at introducing output-based payment methods and improving quality of service delivery in hospitals. However, these reforms need to be sustained over time to deliver best results. With the additional financing, the World Bank will provide the support that is needed during the next phase of reform.

“It is good that the Government laid the base for the reforms in health sector,” said Simon Gray, the World Bank Country Manager for Serbia. “But now is the time, more than ever, to roll them out, as there is increasing pressure for efficiencies in public spending in this period of economic crisis.”

More specifically, the project will finance the following components:

-Management of information technologies (hardware and software) for hospitals and the Health Insurance Fund (HIF);

-Technical assistance to hospitals, the HIF, and the Ministry of Health (MOH) to support institutional and management reforms on a sector and hospital level, so that hospitals can prepare for the introduction of a new payment system that would increase efficiency and productivity in hospitals; and

-Technical assistance to support monitoring and evaluation of the payment reform within hospitals and the HIF in order to evaluate and adjust the impact of the payment change.

These activities will all contribute to the effectiveness and financial sustainability of the country’s health care system.