Digitally Targeted Incentives for Malaria Case Management in Kenya

We investigate the impact of targeted subsidies and incentives for malaria rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) and treatment on demand, sales and stocking decisions, and patient health outcomes, using a novel digital platform in Kenya. We propose a two-phased randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of patient subsidies and provider performance incentives on uptake of RDTs and medication targeting in private sector Kenyan pharmacies. The first phase will test four patient subsidies for RDTs and diagnosis-conditional subsidies for qualified ACTs (compared to no subsidy) in an RCT with interventions assigned at the patient level in a sample of eligible pharmacies. In a second phase, we will introduce patient subsidies and pharmacist/attendant performance incentives and compare their effectiveness to each other and to the status quo in a cluster-randomized control trial, with interventions at the pharmacy level. Our findings will contribute to the literature on the use of subsidies, performance incentives, and digital technology on targeted treatments.