Consumer choice of health facility among the lowest socioeconomic group in newly established demand-side health-financing scheme in Pakistan.

Background: The Social Health Protection Initiative (SHPI) was introduced initially in Pakistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The initiative aimed to provide the lowest socioeconomic group of the population with in-patient healthcare services, which otherwise would be financially hard to obtain. It is one of the flagship projects of the Provincial Government to contribute towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage.

Aims: To assess consumer choice of health facility and its determinants for public versus private sector health facilities by people enrolled in SHPI.

Methods: We used secondary data of availed health services from February 2016 to September 2017 under SHPI. A proxy outcome variable, visit to health facility, was used to determine consumer choice between public and private sector health facilities. The treatment group (health services received by beneficiaries) was used as an independent variable controlled for age groups, cost groups, and geographic location of health facilities. All statistical analyses were performed by SPSS version 20.

Results: Most beneficiaries chose private over public health facilities (90.25%). The adjusted odds of visiting a public sector health facility for surgical and obstetrics/gynaecological services were 0.12 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.10-0.16] and 0.11 (95% CI: 0.09-0.14) respectively, when compared to medical services.

Conclusion: SHPI beneficiaries have lesser odds of visiting a public hospital over a private one. The choice may be affected by factors such as age of the beneficiary, cost of health services, and geographic location of health facilities.