Table 3.

Common themes from semi-structured interviews

1	Key elements of successful RBF programs	Political commitment, government ownership, buy-in of stakeholders
		Clearly defined rules, understanding of indicators; accountability, verification of indicators
		Measuring and evaluation
		Design of program, piloting and testing; participatory approach
		Flexibility in implementation; communication, transparency, sustainability
2	Areas of health for which RBF traditionally used	Maternal and child health; MDGs 4 and 5
		Health service delivery, primary care, quantity and quality of services
3	Potential use of RBF for NCDs	Application of RBF to any service delivery
		Incentivizing preventive and health promotion activities; national, institutional, and individual levels
		Part of package of essential health services; combining efforts for communicable and non-communicable diseases
4	Challenges in taking a RBF approach	Variation in capacity of donor agency representatives
		Use of RBF as panacea, depletion of resources; unintended consequences
		Insufficient ownership and accountability; corruption
		Technical assistance-intensive to establish new/sustainable systems
		Complexity of RBF; significant time for design and implementation
		Skepticism about RBF mechanisms
5	Potential for US involvement with RBF for NCDs	Collect best practices from RBF; assess epidemiological situation
		Engage stakeholders; take participatory approach
		Pilot programs to test applicability of RBF for NCDs; increase funding for NCDs
		Include NCDs as part of package of essential health services; avoid dichotomy between communicable and non-communicable diseases