Methodological Evaluation of Community Health Centre Systems in Ethiopia Using Difference-in-Differences for Clinical Outcome Assessment

Community health centers (CHCs) in Ethiopia play a crucial role in delivering healthcare services to underserved rural populations. However, their effectiveness and efficiency have not been systematically evaluated. A DiD analysis was employed to compare pre- and post-intervention changes in service utilization rates, patient satisfaction scores, and health indicators between CHCs and control areas. Data were collected from the Ethiopian Health Extension Programme’s database over a period of two years. The DiD model revealed an increase in outpatient visits by 15% (95% CI: 6-24%) post-intervention, indicating improved access to healthcare services among rural populations. This study provides evidence supporting the impact of CHC systems on enhancing clinical outcomes and accessibility of healthcare services in Ethiopia. Further research should focus on identifying factors that contribute to these improvements and exploring ways to sustainably scale up CHC networks. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.