Strengthening the financial sustainability of two Population Services and Training Center (PSTC) clinics (Bangladesh)

The Population Services and Training Center of Bangladesh (PSTC) operates 15 clinics and 150 satellite posts that provide an Essential Services Package (ESP) to the poor, consisting of child health, family planning, maternal health, communicable disease treatment, and limited curative care. The objective of this study was to conduct an operations research study to determine the feasibility of improving cost recovery in two clinics by raising prices. It appears that the study design was too ambitious for PSTC, a service delivery organization with no prior research experience. Lack of experience was compounded by the resignation of all three PSTC research staff during the study, and by turnover of economists providing technical assistance from FRONTIERS staff at Population Council/India and Family Health International. Nevertheless, the report includes several important lessons that emerged from the experience that will help design future capacity-building projects.