Large volumes of data, especially insurance claims for health service utilization, are routinely collected by health systems in many low-and middle-income countries. The data can provide a valuable source of real-time information on the state of the population’s health, making it a really useful tool for policymakers. However, the data is often buried in health system databases and is not always easy to collect and analyze.
To begin addressing this problem, the World Bank and Australian Government’s Advance UHC initiative brought together policy makers and technical experts from across Asia for a training workshop focused on strengthening health policy through improved analysis of healthcare claim databases. Sixty people from seven countries—Cambodia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Viet Nam—participated in the three-day course, which was held between July 25-27, 2023, in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Participants learned to apply concepts of data analytics and make policy analysis to improve the health system. The training included assessing length of stay for inpatient episodes, calculating hospitalization rates for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, assessing high-need high-cost utilization of services, analyzing incidence of C-section rates among deliveries, as well as examples of using healthcare claims data for assessing the impact of air pollution and heatwaves on utilization of healthcare services. The goal of the training was to turn raw data into actionable information that strengthens universal health coverage (UHC). For example, use existing data to identify disease patterns, assess quality of care, support resource allocation, predict future expenditures and sustainability, and guide budget proposals and priorities.
“It's great that we could learn how the claim data can be analyzed and used for policymaking. We did analyze length of stay and readmission indicators earlier but had only used them internally,” said Dr. Edwin Orina, senior manager at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). “When we go back, we will disseminate the results more widely and encourage the use of the analysis for policymaking. The course gave more meaning to our data.”
Besides learning how to apply core concepts of data analytics, participants also had opportunities to share and exchange their countries’ experiences in handling health system and health insurance operation issues.
“I could learn from the progress of other countries, about what they are doing with claims data and also UHC implementation in their countries,” said Dr. Yusuf Subekti from the Health Insurance Tariff Setting and Payment Working Team in the Ministry of Health, Indonesia.
The workshop also explored how higher-level policymakers, managers, and data analysts can work more effectively as a team to exploit the wealth of information that databases contain.
“It’s great that we have participants from different departments of the VSS (Vietnam Social Security agency), universities and Ministry of Health, joining this course,” said Huong Lan Nguyen, Deputy Director of the Policy Implementation Department, VSS. “When we go back, we will set up a team with representatives from different departments to work together and see how we can utilize the data we have and how we can use the public money more efficiently.”