IBTCI was selected by USAID to design and lead an impact evaluation of its Integrated Health Project (IHP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The multi-year, multi-NGO IHP provided integrated health care in 80 Health Zones across four provinces in rugged, difficult-to-reach central and eastern DRC: East Kasai, West Kasai, Katanga, and South Kivu. IBTCI’s evaluation employed a cross-sectional, pre/post intervention study design with random selection of Health Zones, and consisted of two separate studies: a performance evaluation of the entire IHP project and an impact evaluation of a Results Based Financing (RBF) pilot to be implemented in eight Health Zones. IBTCI’s IHP Performance Evaluation measured access to and utilization of quality health services, and the RBF Impact Evaluation measured programmatic differences in the Health Zones where health personnel received cash payments for the achievement of performance targets related to maternal and child health, family planning, malaria and HIV/AIDS.
IBTCI selected a representative sample of health centers and a full sample of all General Referral Hospitals for both studies. In addition to these facility surveys, IBTCI conducted client exit interview surveys to ascertain end-users’ satisfaction with services received and their perceived quality of the care. To complement the quantitative component of the IHP study, IBTCI also conducted interviews with stakeholders and focus group discussions with civil society. In total, IBTCI’s RBF Impact Evaluation included a household survey of over 3,600 women to reveal their practices and attitudes toward health care.