UNICEF Global

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For every child, Health

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Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Telemedicine promises to make healthcare delivery better, safer and more efficient. Yet it does not fit easily into existing funding pathways which have traditionally tended to focus on services, medicines, devices and diagnostics, which is a major hurdle to adopting a wide range of digital health solutions.

In recent years, healthcare stakeholders have recognized the potential benefits of digital health. General practice in Romania is under growing pressure. Current telemedicine standards are merely guidance and are not tied directly to any reimbursement process. However, to achieve the complete modernization and optimization of primary healthcare system in Romania it is required that digital technologies that facilitate the delivery and organization of health services and/or provide health benefits are reimbursed and funded appropriately.

Globally, reimbursement legislations and frameworks for telemedicine in Primary Healthcare are still in an experimental phase and will continue to evolve. Romania does not have a differentiated telemedicine reimbursement processes or procedures. Routine digital interventions/activities and pathways need to be funded at a category level, as opposed to specific technologies. For example, a remote monitoring intervention should have a tariff for all the relevant preventive and therapeutic areas. Reimbursement schemes are playing a role in incentivizing appropriate uptake of digital innovations and include early access schemes such as coverage with evidence development. It is imperative to establish clear reimbursement pathways for digital health solutions at a national scale to drive stronger evidence generation and wider adoption of telemedicine.

UNICEF supported Romania Health Information System analysis and digitalization of various national digital tools – mobile applications for outreach workers, platforms aggregating data useful for decision-makers at various levels, etc. Subsequently, it was decided to explore the modalities for reimbursement of telemedicine services.

In this context, UNICEF is looking for a consultant to carry out a comparative analysis of existing funding/reimbursement mechanisms for telehealth with the view of establishing principles for a Romanian reimbursement scheme.

Scope of Work:

The scope of the consultancy is to provide evidence covering general reimbursement principles and different funding governance models for telemedicine within the statutory health insurance systems.

Reimbursement needs to be looked holistically at addressing the cost of health services activity. This will require a range of mechanisms to ensure that funding can flow appropriately through the system. Consideration also needs to be given to the use of reimbursement mechanisms to provide incentives to appropriately switch to digitally enabled pathways and data-driven interventions and incentivize the use of technology to drive system efficiency. Systems should be put in place that will support access to technologies across home care, primary care, community, and acute settings.

The consultant will be expected to conduct an analysis of the existing models of reimbursement for telemedicine services and propose guiding principles for reimbursement of Telemedicine services to inform national health public financing policies in Romania.

As part of the analysis, the consultant should:

• Identify reimbursement models for telemedicine and health financing governance models for digital health

• Review the evaluation frameworks, funding mechanisms and reimbursement routes for telemedicine with a focus on primary healthcare, community care, and home care;

Document how do the reimbursement opportunities for telemedicine vary across countries, from the regulatory flexibility, scope of services, and criteria of reimbursement by national/local health authorities, as international Best Practice Key Characteristics.

• Propose guiding principles for reimbursement of Telemedicine services to inform national health public financing policies in Romania

• Throughout the consultancy, the consultant is expected to collaborate with partners, UNICEF Health, and other Programme Specialists to ensure the development of effective analysis and recommendations by generating evidence-based products on telemedicine reimbursement principles and country cases.

Work Assignments	Deliverable	Delivery deadline
Develop inception report outlining the workplan, methodology and approach, steps, activities, and timeline to achieve the objectives of the consultancy.	Inception report	2 days – 10 May
Undertake an analysis detailing telemedicine reimbursement models, focusing on country experiences, including regulatory frameworks, policies, and payment models. Propose guiding principles for reimbursement of Telemedicine services to inform national health public financing policies in Romania	Draft analysis report including guiding principles for reimbursement of telemedicine services • Final analysis report	18 days – 30 June
Total Number of days		20

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made upon submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the final report. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered, or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

For every child, you will have:

Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management, Health Economics, Public Health, Digital Health or any other related field.
At least 7 years of experience in Health Economics, Public health Financing, or related.
– Knowledge of Reimbursement models for digital health and linkages between budget and policy is required
– Previous experience working with the UN would be an asset
– Previous experience working with Health agencies would be an asset
– Previous experience working with various structures of the Health System in Romania is desired
– Experience in writing methodologies, normative guidelines, research papers, analytical documents, policy papers and notes, project and program documents, studies, etc. is an asset;
– Analytical and conceptual ability; communication skills;
– Availability for work within the proposed time frame;
– Fluency in Romanian and working knowledge of English (both written and oral) are required

The application will be made in the dedicated UNICEF platform and it must include:

An updated CV focused on the skills and experience matching those requested by the current consultancy.
Financial Offer should indicate the GROSS amount in USD as per the attached template Financial Proposal for Health Consultant.xlsx
Relevant work sample
Cover letter explaining how you will undertake this project (a methodology that you will use for this project etc)

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit  here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

Advertised: 11 Apr 2024 GTB Daylight Time
Deadline: 25 Apr 2024 GTB Daylight Time

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