CFPs: Paying Providers for Primary Care to Design and Implement Blended Provider Payment Models

Research will examine key attributes, model evolution, integration within health system reforms, and the role of these models in financial protection, efficiency, equity and quality of care. Using mixed methods, teams will assess how these models influence provider behaviour and health system outcomes.

Objectives

• The objectives of this research programme are to:
  • Develop new health policy and systems research reflecting on experiences of implementing blended provider payment models focused on primary care in LMICs and that can inform ongoing implementation and/or design of blended payment models for primary care in the countries studied.
  • Informed by this, develop cross-national learning that can inform the design and implementation of blended payment models for primary care in countries beyond those studied. This learning can also help inform and guide the WHO’s technical assistance around PPMs for primary care at national and regional levels.
  • Stimulate national, regional and global conversations around different approaches to pay providers for primary care and how these might be actualized taking into account health system and other contextual differences.

Funding Information

• Each team will be awarded a maximum of US$ 55000 for the period May 2025 – August 2026.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for this call:
  • The Principal Investigator must be based in a research/academic institute in one of the eligible countries: Brazil, Chile, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Mongolia, Peru, Rwanda or Senegal.
  • While studies in India should focus on the following states, research teams do not need to necessarily be based in the state being studied: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
  • The team should have extensive experience in:
    • Health financing research, particularly on provider payment methods
    • Primary care reforms
    • Engaging policy-makers in the uptake of research findings to inform policy.
  • The team must have gender balance, and 50% of the core research team must comprise female researchers.
  • The team must also include a policy-maker (at national or subnational level) working in the health financing space.

Selection Criteria

• Eligible proposals will be judged by at least two external reviewers based on selection criteria including:
  • A clearly articulated policy- and practice-relevant research question that addresses the broad questions mentioned above.
  • Proposed methodology appropriate to answer the question.
  • The potential of the research question to be feasibly answered within the programme timeframe.
  • Demonstrated experience of the team in conducting health policy and systems research relevant to the selected theme.
  • Demonstrated experience of the research team in engaging policymakers in research processes.
  • A clearly articulated overview of the process through which the team plans to implement this work programme from inception to project completion.
  • Value for money.

Application Requirements

• Please use the subject: WHO Bid Ref. Call for proposals: Paying providers for primary care – blended payment models. Please ensure that the proposal is submitted both in Word and PDF formats. Additionally, please ensure the CVs of all team members are combined into a single PDF and attached along with the submission template and cover page.
• Successful applicants can be expected to be notified within eight weeks of the deadline whether they have been successful or not. WHO may, at its own discretion, extend this closing date for the submission of bids by notifying all applicants thereof in writing.
• Submissions of no more than ten pages (1.15 spaced, using a standard font sized 11, and using regular margins) should include the following sections and content:
  • Name and contact details of the key contact person and lead institution.
  • Provide details of the research team including the position and qualifications of the Principal Investigator(s) and other teammembers. The description of the team should clearly provide information around team member’s capacity and experience in a) health financing research, particularly on provider payment methods, b) research on primary care reforms, and c) engaging policy-makers in the uptake of research findings to inform policy. This section must also provide information on the gender breakdown of the core research team, noting that to be eligible for funding 50% of the core research team must comprise female researchers. The proposal must clearly identify the policymaker who is a part of the research team, provide their official title and designation and their expected role in the research project.
  • Provide an overview of the health service delivery architecture and provider payment arrangements in place within the geographical area being studied. While the emphasis should be on primary care, to better understand linkages between different levels of care as well as between the public and private sectors it would be important that the overview be comprehensive in terms of how health services are delivered and providers paid across the health system (maximum 1 page).
  • Describe the blended payment model that is the focus of the research. This includes how long the model has been implemented, the primary care related health needs that the blended payment model (and broader primary care reform if relevant) tries to address, populations and geographies it covers and the proportion of providers in the geographical area who are subject to the blended model. It would also be important for this section to outline the provider payment methods that the blended model brings together and the incentives that the model has potentially created, services covered by the blended payment and how other services (if any) are paid for and what proportion of provider income the different components of the blended model account for (maximum 1.5 page).
  • Locate the proposed study in the existing literature on blended provider payment models literature demonstrating how it adds to what is already known or fills a gap in the literature (maximum 1 page).

For more information, visit Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research.