The FHI 360 Health System Rapid Diagnostic Tool (RDT)
FHI 360 has developed a “how to guide” for FHI 360 country offices and their partners to diagnose the
performance of health system functions that are priorities within their particular country and program
contexts. Our country offices can customize the Health System Rapid Diagnostic Tool (RDT) to focus on
local or national level system functions and across any of the health system building blocks, including on
human resources for health. To accomplish this customization, the RDT puts a heavy emphasis on the
country-led design and planning process. Rather than presenting a blueprint design of a performance
diagnostic, the country office and its partners set the purpose and scope and define the relevant
performance assessment questions, indicators and targets drawing on existing national and
international best practice in health system assessments.
This tool is unique in: being rooted in a country-led design process to develop a customized assessment,
the focus on priority health system functions, and taking a systems view of performance; i.e. defining
performance of a function in terms of determinants, processes and results and seeking to uncover
underlying root causes of weak performance.
The ultimate purpose of FHI 360’s RDT is to build a context specific understanding of health system
performance that inform the design of HSS initiatives that address underlying root causes of health
system weaknesses and have broad and long-lasting effects on health system outcomes.
The steps to this process are outlined below, and the details of these steps are presented in the guide:
Health System Rapid Diagnostic Tool: Framework, operational guide and metrics to measure the
strength of priority health system functions. If you are interested in learning more about the tool, please
contact the FHI 360 Health Systems Strengtheing Unit at HSSD@fhi360.org.
The FHI process for a rapid diagnostic of priority health system functions
FHI 360 1825 Connecticut Ave, NW | Washington, DC 20009 USA
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