Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural Nepal
Background: The Government of Nepal has been strengthening the primary care and fulfilling the commitment of universal health coverage by upgrading and establishing municipal hospitals. These hospitals are expected to be affordable and accessible. It is necessary to understand the health expenditur...
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Karnali Academy of Health Sciences
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.jkahs.org.np/jkahs/index.php/jkahs/article/view/919 |
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| author | Pawan Kumar Bajaj Agrawal Baburam Giri Priyanka Gupta Anjan Nepali Suraj Parajuli |
| author_facet | Pawan Kumar Bajaj Agrawal Baburam Giri Priyanka Gupta Anjan Nepali Suraj Parajuli |
| author_sort | Pawan Kumar Bajaj Agrawal |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Background: The Government of Nepal has been strengthening the primary care and fulfilling the commitment of universal health coverage by upgrading and establishing municipal hospitals. These hospitals are expected to be affordable and accessible. It is necessary to understand the health expenditure at these primary centers to reflect upon the productivity, especially in low income countries like Nepal struggling with adequate expenditure in health. Therefore, we aimed to reflect upon the temporal trend of per capita health expenditure in a rural municipal hospital.
Methods: The descriptive combined cross-sectional study was conducted in Amppipal Municipal Hospital, in rural Gorkha with catchment population of 37,409, over duration of five fiscal years. Yearly records of expenditure and total number of clients were used to infer per capita expenditure. The total number of emergency patients, inpatients and surgeries performed were documented in order to reflect upon their impact.
Result: The total annual clients visiting the hospitals increased over the years from 19,062 in FY 2017/18 to 28,249 in FY 2021/22. The median contribution of emergency patients and admitted patients among total clients over the years was 3.1% and 5.2% respectively. Surgeries, including minor ones, were performed in 3.7% of the total yearly clients.The per capita expenditure increased from NPR 1,217 in FY 2017/18 (USD 9.3) to NPR 1,438 (USD 11.0) in FY 2021/22, one United States dollar being equivalent to one hundred and thirty Nepali rupees. The median per capita expenditure was NPR 1,303 (USD 13.0).
Conclusion: Our study suggested the increasing trend of per capita health expenditure over five years duration in a primary care municipal hospital in Nepal, with overall increase of 18.15%. The study would be helpful in budgeting and evaluating the productivity of these primary care institutions.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-579d1622b97f4334ae0bb9da92a4cedc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2616-0064 2676-1327 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Karnali Academy of Health Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-579d1622b97f4334ae0bb9da92a4cedc2025-08-24T14:09:15ZengKarnali Academy of Health SciencesJournal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences2616-00642676-13272025-06-018110.61814/jkahs.v8i1.919Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural NepalPawan Kumar Bajaj Agrawal0Baburam Giri1Priyanka Gupta2Anjan Nepali3Suraj Parajuli4Citycare HospitalNepalMed e.v.Bluecross Hospital, KathmanduAmppipal HospitalDepartment of Clinical skills, Medical University of the Americas Nevis Background: The Government of Nepal has been strengthening the primary care and fulfilling the commitment of universal health coverage by upgrading and establishing municipal hospitals. These hospitals are expected to be affordable and accessible. It is necessary to understand the health expenditure at these primary centers to reflect upon the productivity, especially in low income countries like Nepal struggling with adequate expenditure in health. Therefore, we aimed to reflect upon the temporal trend of per capita health expenditure in a rural municipal hospital. Methods: The descriptive combined cross-sectional study was conducted in Amppipal Municipal Hospital, in rural Gorkha with catchment population of 37,409, over duration of five fiscal years. Yearly records of expenditure and total number of clients were used to infer per capita expenditure. The total number of emergency patients, inpatients and surgeries performed were documented in order to reflect upon their impact. Result: The total annual clients visiting the hospitals increased over the years from 19,062 in FY 2017/18 to 28,249 in FY 2021/22. The median contribution of emergency patients and admitted patients among total clients over the years was 3.1% and 5.2% respectively. Surgeries, including minor ones, were performed in 3.7% of the total yearly clients.The per capita expenditure increased from NPR 1,217 in FY 2017/18 (USD 9.3) to NPR 1,438 (USD 11.0) in FY 2021/22, one United States dollar being equivalent to one hundred and thirty Nepali rupees. The median per capita expenditure was NPR 1,303 (USD 13.0). Conclusion: Our study suggested the increasing trend of per capita health expenditure over five years duration in a primary care municipal hospital in Nepal, with overall increase of 18.15%. The study would be helpful in budgeting and evaluating the productivity of these primary care institutions. https://www.jkahs.org.np/jkahs/index.php/jkahs/article/view/919general practicemunicipal hospitalNepalper capita health expenditureprimary care |
| spellingShingle | Pawan Kumar Bajaj Agrawal Baburam Giri Priyanka Gupta Anjan Nepali Suraj Parajuli Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural Nepal Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences general practice municipal hospital Nepal per capita health expenditure primary care |
| title | Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural Nepal |
| title_full | Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural Nepal |
| title_fullStr | Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural Nepal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural Nepal |
| title_short | Per Capita Health Expenditure at a Municipal Hospital: Perspective from a General Practice Hospital in Rural Nepal |
| title_sort | per capita health expenditure at a municipal hospital perspective from a general practice hospital in rural nepal |
| topic | general practice municipal hospital Nepal per capita health expenditure primary care |
| url | https://www.jkahs.org.np/jkahs/index.php/jkahs/article/view/919 |
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