List of management functions
Key management functions for health service delivery include the following:
- Policy and Planning
- Local policy development (adjusting national policies to be applicable to the district, and/or developing additional local policies)
- Strategic (medium-term) planning & setting priorities for the district
- Financial forecasting for the district
- District operational (annual or shorter period) planning
- Financial Planning and Management
- Budget development - capital or investment, for the district
- Budget development - recurrent or operational, for the district
- Budget allocation to services and activities within the district
- Publication of district annual health plan and budget for public information
- Monitoring district health expenditure against budget
- Adjustment between budget lines during the year
- Setting fees for health services and drugs in the district (if applicable)
- Organising community health insurance in the district
- Collection of fees and/or insurance premiums in the district
- Setting criteria for subsidies or exemption from fees in the district
- Decisions on use of health income to the district
- Audit of district health finances and functions
- Human Resources Planning and Management
- Deciding the number and mix of staff required for health facilities and services in the district
- Long-term health workforce planning for the district
- Hiring and firing staff in the district
- Setting staff salaries and allowances for the district
- Deployment of staff to clinical, outreach and public health services and activities within the district
- Development of health staff job descriptions for the district
- Performance assessment of health staff in the district
- Training needs assessment for health staff in the district
- In-service education for health staff in the district
- Career planning for health staff in the district
- Setting and awarding district health staff incentives - financial
- Setting and awarding district health staff incentives - non-financial
- Governance and Accountability
- Establishment of health services governance or management structures in the district
- Deciding on inclusion of community members in district health management structures
- Interaction with the community - seeking information on and responding to community health needs
- Ensuring the community has information on costs of health services, delivery options and available resources
- Reporting local health priorities to national authorities
- Intersectoral collaboration in the district
- Negotiating donor support to health services in the district
- Defining the role of the private sector in district health
- Monitoring donor activity in health in the district
- Enforcing health legislation, regulation and standards in the district
- Assessment of constraints to district health performance
- Planning and Management of Service Provision
- Development of essential packages of health services for the district
- Development of essential list of drugs for the district
- Development of clinical & public health protocols for the district
- Development of performance standards for the district
- Establishment of mechanisms for referral and control of access to services in the district
- Procurement of drugs for the district
- Procurement of equipment for the district
- Health facility development in the district
- Health facility maintenance in the district
- Equipment and vehicle maintenance in the district
- Contracting health services in the district
- Undertaking research on operational or clinical topics of concern to the district
- Dissemination of relevant health research and best practices in the district
- Managing performance through information
- Maintaining coverage, integrity, timeliness and quality of routing information on health services provision
- Monitoring of performance standards in the district
- Monitoring patient throughput and statistics in the district
- Monitoring health service utilization by poor and vulnerable groups in the district
- Monitoring adverse patient events in the district
- Monitoring patient satisfaction in the district
- Monitoring population health indicators in the district
- Monitoring referrals to and from services in the district
- Monitoring drug use and availability in the district
- Monitoring drug quality in the district
- Surveillance for rapid response to disease outbreak
- Aggregation of data from facilities and feedback to facilities
- Assessment of effective coverage of services
- Reporting on district health performance to national government
- Reporting on district health performance to stakeholders