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3-4 . 2016

Is high-tech care in a middle-income country worth it? Perinatal centers in Russia

AbstractHow much does a dramatic increase in technology improve healthcare quality in an upper middle-income country? Using rich vital statistics on infant health outcomes, this study evaluates the effect of introducing technologically advanced perinatal hospitals in 24 regions of Russia on infant mortality during the period 2009-2013. A 7-year aggregate panel dataset reveals that opening a perinatal centre corresponds to infant mortality reduction by 3.8 percent from the baseline rate, neonatal (0-28 day) mortality by 7 percent and early neonatal (0-6 day) mortality by 7.3 percent. We find that the perinatal centres help to save 263 additional infant lives annually, ranging from 3 to 25 lives in regions with different birth rates. However, we further find that an average cost per life saved is 52 million rb (or 2.6 million 2014 PPP USD), which is much higher than the cost of similar interventions in the United States.

Keywords:infant health, infant mortality, maternal health, maternal mortality, prenatal care, perinatal hospitals, impact evaluation, returns to technology, cost of healthcare

All articles in our journal are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0 license)

CHIEF EDITOR
CHIEF EDITOR
Guzel E. Ulumbekova
MD, MBA from Harvard University (Boston, USA), Head of the Graduate School of Healthcare Organization and Management (VSHOUZ)

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