Table 2.

Description of councils selected for the qualitative study

Characteristics	Rufiji DC	Mvomero DC	Iringa MC
Region	Pwani	Morogoro	Iringa
Classification	Rural	Rural	Urban
Population size [58]	217′274	312′109	151′345
Area (kmb)a	13′339	7′325	162
Number of operating health facilities [61]b	78	69	33
Accessibility	Several hard-to-reach areas, including the Rufiji river delta	Some hard-to-reach areas	No hard-to-reach areas
Existence of pay for performance (P4P) schemes (20)c	Pilot council for donor funded P4P scheme since 2011 with focus on maternal, newborn and child health services [62]	Partially implemented locally funded P4P scheme between 2009 and 2011 with focus on maternal, newborn and child health services [63]	No P4P experience

^aSource: Comprehensive Council Health Plans of participating councils collected by SR and IM ^bStatus October 2016 ^cResult-based financing scheme whereby financial incentives, which are tied to the achievement of service coverage and/or quality improvements, are provided to the healthcare provider