Analysis of Efficiency of Use of Birth Certificates as a Tool to Improve Quality of Care

The state programme "Birth certificate" greatly contributed to the protection of maternal and child health at the time of its establishment. The high expectations placed upon the programme were related to the newly introduced possibility for patients to choose a medical institution that hadn't been available before. This option was expected to result in developing a competitive environment among health care institutions given the additional funding provided by the programme. According to the project both the quality of medical care and the service level were supposed to be improved. However, with the introduction of the Federal laws 326 and 323, the situation has changed significantly. The new legal framework in this sphere provides for the mentioned right to choose for all the patients. The transition from the mixed budget and insurance-based system of financing to the single-channel financing model has established a new funding practice under which "money follows the patient". In addition, the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund is raising tariffs for health care services, therefore the problem of maintaining the relevance of the "Birth certificate" programme comes up. The complexity of the issue is attributable to the need to take into account current indicators of the programme, its mechanism of action and field of application in the context of current judicial environment.