Background In 2004, the health system in Iran initiated an organizational reform aiming to increase the autonomy of teaching hospitals and make them more decentralized. The policy led to the formation of a board of trustees in each hospital and significant modifications in hospitals’ financing. Since the reform aimed to improve its predecessor policy (implementation of hospital autonomy began i...

Strengthening research capacity in developing countries is aimed at generating and translating knowledge into policy decisions to improve health systems and increase equitable access to health services in the population.1 The International Health Policy Program (IHPP) in Thailand has strengthened health policy and systems research capacity in the Ministry of Public Health since 1998 and has sus...

BACKGROUND Throughout the world, there is increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the value of research evidence in the development of effective health policy and in quality health care practice and administration. Among the major challenges associated with the lack of uptake of research evidence into policy and practice in Nigeria is the capacity constraints of policymakers to use research...

background there is increasing interest globally in the use of more rigorous processes to ensure that maternal, newborn, and child health (mnch) care recommendations are informed by the best available research evidence use. the purpose of this study was to engage nigerian mnch policy-makers and other stakeholders to consider issues around research to policy and practice interface and to assess ...

We consider a finite capacity queueing system where arriving customers offer rewards which are paid upon acceptance into the system. The gatekeeper, whose objective is to “maximize” rewards decides if the reward offered is sufficient to accept or reject the arriving customer. Suppose the arrival rates, service rates, and system capacity are changing over time in a known manner. We show that all...

BACKGROUND It is desirable that health researchers have the ability to conduct research on health equity and contribute to the development of their national health system and policymaking processes. However, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a limited capacity to conduct this type of research due to reasons mostly associated with the status of national (health) research syst...

The importance of health policy and systems research and analysis (HPSR+A) is widely recognized. Universities are central to strengthening and sustaining the HPSR+A capacity as they teach the next generation of decision-makers and health professionals. However, little is known about the capacity of universities, specifically, to develop the field. In this article, we report results of capacity ...