Analysis of the demand for inpatient and outpatient care from Imbaba Hospital Cairo Egypt.

The Egypt Cost Recovery for Health Project sponsored by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and supported by the US Agency for International Development is designed to improve the health care system in Egypt through improving the quality of services provided increasing the degree of hospital financial self-sufficiency and ensuring adequate access to care for all. The first phase involves changing fee structures to improve cost recovery at public hospitals and the first hospital to be considered is Imbaba Hospital a public care hospital in Cairo Egypt. This paper reports findings from an econometric analysis of household survey data to determine the impact of changing fee structures for cost recovery at Imbaba Hospital. The analysis includes a description of current health care utilization patterns estimations of the determinants of demand and simulations of changes in demand in response to changes in certain key variables. Conducted separately for inpatients and outpatients the analysis found Imbaba Hospital to be a low-quality facility and that demand for inpatient care is less responsive to fee levels than demand for outpatient care. Although there is significant willingness to pay for services perceived to be of higher quality there remains no clear indication of the potential demand response to increasing fees at the hospital.