Resource allocation in pediatric tertiary care institutions

Health service delivery organizations typically set priorities and allocate resources on the basis of historical patterns which leads to less optimal allocation patterns. Over the last decade research has focused on providing organizations with evidence informed processes to assist decision makers in determining how best to allocate limited funds. To date the bulk of this research has focused on regionalized settings like health authorities. Tertiary care centres, and specifically those addressing children's health, have received very limited focus to date in advancing methods. One of the challenges is that pediatric settings bring a unique set of characteristics and as such it is likely not feasible to simply parachute in what we have learned in other settings. The proposed project will assess policy options relating to priority setting and resource allocation methods in pediatric tertiary care settings. We will conduct a retrospective policy analysis of work with a single pediatric hospital in Halifax and further carry out a comparative policy analysis examining what other pediatric institutions are doing across Canada and elsewhere. The end point will be a set of guidelines that would be used by senior decision makers in pediatric tertiary care centres when faced with making decisions about what children's health services to fund and what not to fund. The project has three major phases: 1. policy analysis; 2. policy round table; and 3. write-up and dissemination.