Measuring Primary Health Care Performance

Many countries have identified primary health care as an urgent priority, but lack comprehensive data to pinpoint specific weaknesses, understand their causes, and strategically direct resources to address them. PHCPI believes that better data on primary health care can help.

PHCPI’s Conceptual Framework was developed to describe the critical components of a strong primary health care system and serves as the foundation of the initiative’s activities. Intended to guide what should be measured to inform and drive efforts to improve PHC, the Conceptual Framework includes the key system-level characteristics, inputs, service delivery processes, and goals of an effective PHC system. Recognizing that no primary health care system exists in a vacuum, the Framework also highlights the broader socioeconomic, political, and cultural context in which the broader health system operates.

The Primary Health Care Vital Signs Profiles provide an innovative snapshot of the strength of a country’s primary health care system. By presenting data across four key pillars -- financing, capacity, performance and equity -- the Vital Signs Profiles capture the most important information about a country’s primary health care system in a format that policymakers, development partners and advocates can easily understand. It is the first tool to move beyond individual metrics and provide a sense of how a primary health care system is functioning overall, making it easier to compare areas of the system and pinpoint priorities for improvement.