External Evaluations

Transparency ensures that information is available that can be used to measure the functional capabilities, trustworthiness and accountability of an organisation. External perspectives and evaluations are useful, as they provide objective information about aspects of an organisation in the context of its encounters with external entities.

Whenever there was an occasion for external evaluation and/or observation of its activities, the IHS has provided access to its inner workings, to avail the opportunity of learning from fresh perspectives. The following is a list of occasions when and the IHS received visitors who examined inner workings of the Institute and provided their observations the functioning and potential for development of the IHS.

2002, April: Observations by Dr. Dinesh Kumar Patel

Dr. Dinesh Kumar Patel of Rajkot, Gujarat visited the Institute of Health Systems from 16‑04‑2002 to 25‑04‑2002. Dr. Patel is an Orthopaedician. At the time his visit to the IHS, he had retired from clinical practice and was managing Finance Company that invests in the stock market. He is a member of the IHS. Dr. Patel happens to be the classmate, in MKCG Medical Collge Berhampur, Odisha, of Dr. Prasanta Mahapatra, who was the Director IHS at the time.

Read Dr. Patel’s observations about the IHS.

2002, December: Observations by Shri Ashok U. Lavasa

Mr. Ashok U. Lavasa, a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) - Haryana Cadre, visited the Institute from 16-18 December, 2002. By this time, he had completed his posting as Joint Secretary to Government of India in the Department of Economic Affairs. During the period of his visit, he was on leave preparatory to taking up a course of study at the National Defence College, Delhi. During his visit to the IHS, Sri Lavasa examined institutional documents and interacted with the Faculty and Staff. Sri Lavasa communicated his observations by email to Dr. Prasanta Mahapatra, the then Director, IHS. Shri Lavasa happens to be the batchmate, in the IAS, of Dr. Prasanta Mahapatra, who was the Director IHS at the time.

Read Mr. Lavasa’s observations about the IHS.

2010: WHO-AHPSR Case Study of the IHS.

The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (APHSR) is an international collaboration based within the World Health Organisation (WHO). In 2009 to 2010, the WHO-AHPSR undertook a study of Health Policy Analysis Institutes (HPAI) in low- and middle-income countries. Sara Bennet of the WHO-AHPSR was the lead author of this study. A total of 78 HPAIs consisting of 38 institutions in Asia and 21 in Africa could be listed at the time. Six out of the 78 institutions were selected for detailed case study. The Institute of Health Systems (IHS) Hyderabad, happened to be one of these six Institutions taken up by the WHO-AHPSR for case study. Each of the case studies was conducted by a researcher from the concerned country or region.

Dr. Amar Jesani was commissioned for the IHS case study. Dr. Jesani examined institutional documents, interviewed key informants, directly observed work at the IHS and interacted with staff. Key informants included clients, Board and Executive Council members, current and former Director and staff members. Copy of his report to the AHPSR was provided to the IHS.

Read about the IHS case study and publications from the AHPSR study on Health Policy Analysis Institutes.