In Rwanda, district hospitals play a crucial role in providing healthcare services to underserved communities. However, there is limited data on their efficiency and cost-effectiveness in implementing palliative care programmes. A randomized field trial was conducted to measure the cost-effectiveness of district hospital systems. The study included a control group and an intervention group receiving additional support for implementing palliative care protocols. The findings indicate that the proportion of patients who reported improved quality of life after receiving palliative care interventions in the intervention group was significantly higher (p < 0. 05) compared to the control group, suggesting a positive impact on patient outcomes. This randomized field trial provides empirical evidence supporting the cost-effectiveness of implementing additional support for palliative care protocols within district hospital systems in Rwanda. Policy makers should consider allocating resources towards enhancing the operational efficiency and effectiveness of district hospitals to improve service delivery, particularly in underserved regions. Treatment effect was estimated with logit (pᵢ) =₀+^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.
Marshall et al. (Fri,) studied this question.