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Community health teams and health utilization in El Salvador

Antonella Bancalari et al.

Journal of Health Economics2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2026.103110article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

The overutilization of costly hospital and emergency care and the underutilization of primary care is considered a key driver of wasteful health spending. We study how a shift toward community-based primary care reshapes care patterns across levels of the health system in El Salvador. Using data on outpatient consultations and hospitalizations across 254 municipalities, we exploit the staggered introduction of community health teams (CHTs) between 2010 and 2013 using an event-study design. We find that CHTs increased preventive care, reduced curative consultations for conditions amenable to effective primary care, and lowered preventable hospitalizations. We also document improved primary-care coverage for previously unattended chronic conditions. Together, these results suggest that strengthening primary care through CHTs can meaningfully improve the organization of care and bolster health system performance.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2026.103110

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@article{antonella2026,
  title        = {{Community health teams and health utilization in El Salvador}},
  author       = {Antonella Bancalari et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Health Economics},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2026.103110},
}

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Community health teams and health utilization in El Salvador

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.