Benefit Packages to Attract Health Workforce in Public Health Facilities

Abstract

The policy to downsize the civil servant positions implemented has made the Ministry of Public Health failed to attract and retain health workforce into public health facilities. Particularly in rural areas. This study was aimed at assessing the factors affecting the health workforce's decision making in choosing public health facilities as their job of choices. Eight hundreds temporary employees were recruited in the study. A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) tool was used and that each health workforce was asked 16 questions to choose between 2 jobs which have different at-tributes. The data were analyzed by conditional logistic regression.

The findings showed that both financial and non-financial incentives played important roles in health workforce decision making to choose public facility choices. Benefit packages that were significantly associated with their choices of non-civil servant positions were: career advancement, opportunity for continuing education, bonus provision, pension fund, salary increase at 30 percent - 40 percent, medical benefit package provision and salary increase at 20 percent. The results indicated that the attractive benefit packages comprise:, career advancement, opportunity for continuing education, bonus provision, pension fund, higher salary and medical benefit package provision. In choosing jobs, professional health workforce emphasized on financial measures as equal as non-financial measures, health auxiliary, however, paid more attention to non-financial measures.

These appropriate combination between financial and non-financial packages could be attractive for health workforce to choose positions in rural areas.