Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Digital Health Technologies for Universal Health Coverage: A Promising Change


Affiliations
1 Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod 671 316,, India
2 International Institute of Health Management Research, New Delhi 110 075, India
 

Digital health technologies act as health system strengthening tools and facilitate achievement of universal health coverage (UHC). In line with the United Nations sustainable Development Goals, India launched the Ayushman Bharat Programme (ABP) to strengthen health services and achieve UHC. Digital health technologies could be instrumental in improving the efficiency of ABP. Given that India is in the initial steps towards UHC and digital health deployment, synergy between health programmes and digital health policies is essential to realize the goal of UHC. This article aims to discuss the scope of digital health technologies for achieving UHC, their application, opportunities and challenges in the context of ABP in India.

Keywords

Digital Health Technologies, Programmes And Policies, Sustainable Development Goals, Universal Health Coverage.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • WHO, Global diffusion of eHealth: making universal health coverage achievable: report of the third global survey on eHealth, World Health Organization, Geneva, 2016.
  • NHA, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana: Beneficiary Empowerment Guidebook, National Health Authority, 2018.
  • Bakshi, H., Sharma, R. and Kumar, P., Ayushman Bharat Initiative (2018): what we stand to gain or lose! Indian J. Community Med.: Off. Publ. Indian Assoc. Prevent. Soc. Med., 2018, 43, 63– 66; doi:10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_96_18.
  • Labrique, A. et al., WHO Digital Health Guidelines: a milestone for global health. npj Digit. Med., 2020, 3, 1–3.
  • Pahwa, P., Lunsford, S. and Livesley, N., Experiences of Indian health workers using WhatsApp for improving aseptic practices with newborns: exploratory qualitative study. JMIR Med. Informat., 2018, 6, e13.
  • Prinja, S. et al., Cost effectiveness of mHealth intervention by community health workers for reducing maternal and newborn mortality in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. Cost Effect. Resour. Allocation, 2018, 16, 25.
  • Kaphle, S. et al., Adoption and usage of mHealth technology on quality and experience of care provided by frontline workers: observations from rural India. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2015, 3, e61.
  • Praveen, D. et al., SMARTHealth India: development and field evaluation of a mobile clinical decision support system for cardiovascular diseases in rural India. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2014, 2, e54.
  • Pfammatter, A. et al., mHealth intervention to improve diabetes risk behaviors in India: a prospective, parallel group cohort study. J. Med. Internet Res., 2016, 18, e207.
  • Hamine, S. et al., Impact of mHealth chronic disease management on treatment adherence and patient outcomes: a systematic review. J. Med. Internet Res., 2015, 17, e52.
  • Modi, D. et al., mHealth intervention ‘ImTeCHO’ to improve delivery of maternal, neonatal, and child care services – a clusterrandomized trial in tribal areas of Gujarat, India. PLoS Med., 2019, 16, e1002939.
  • Venkat, P. G., Intermediate assessment of the Khushi Baby Crct: Implementation of a novel mHealth solution for vaccination record keeping in rural Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, 2016.
  • Khan, A. et al., Design and development of a digital program for training non-specialist health workers to deliver an evidence-based psychological treatment for depression in primary care in India. J. Technol. Behav. Sci., 2020, 5(4), 1–14.
  • Aman, S., Ayushman CEO seeks universal health cover. Economic Times, 2019; https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/ayushman-ceo-seeks-universal-health-cover/articleshow/72971565.cms (accessed on 6 November 2020).
  • Lahariya, C., ‘Ayushman Bharat’ Program and universal health coverage in India. Indian Pediatr., 2018, 55, 495–506.
  • Nair, P., The emerging concept of an inclusive mHealth ecosystem in India. In Emerging Trends and Innovations in Privacy and Health Information Management, IGI Global, 2019, pp. 116–141.
  • Singh, A., Shortage and inequalities in the distribution of specialists across community health centres in Uttar Pradesh, 2002–2012. BMC Health Serv. Res., 2019, 19, 331.
  • GoVAP. e Urban Primary Health Centres, 2020; http://euphcapgov.in/ (accessed on 24 September 2020).
  • Price, C. P. and Kricka, L. J., Improving healthcare accessibility through point-of-care technologies. Clin. Chem., 2007, 53, 1665– 1675.
  • Gopichandran, V. et al., Ethical challenges of digital health technologies: Aadhaar, India. Bull. WHO, 2020, 98, 277.
  • White, G. et al., Patient medication IV delivery pump with wireless communication to a hospital information management system. United States patent US 6,790,198, 14 September 2004.
  • Kant, L. and Krishnan, S. K., Information and communication technology in disease surveillance, India: a case study. BMC Public Health, 2010, 10, S1–S11; doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-S1-S11.
  • NDHM, National Digital Health Mission, 2020; https://ndhm.gov.in/ (accessed on 1 October 2020).
  • Ananthakrishnan, Can a digital ID aid India’s primary health ecosystem? 2020; https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/can-a-digital-id-aid-indias-primary-health-ecosystem/article32460458.ece (accessed on 6 November 2020).
  • Bajpai, N. and Wadhwa, M., India’s National Digital Health Mission. Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, USA, 2020.
  • Srivastava, S. K., Adoption of electronic health records: a roadmap for India. Healthcare Informat. Res., 2016; 22, 261–269; doi:10.4258/hir.2016.22.4.261.
  • Fontenot, S. F., The affordable care act and electronic health care records: can technology help reduce the cost of health care? Physician Executive, 2014, 40, 68.
  • Pohl, M., mHealth App Economics 2017/2018: Current Status and Future Trends in Mobile Health, 2017.
  • https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.hied.esanjeevaniopd& hl=en_US&showAllReviews=true (accessed on 30 September 2020).

Abstract Views: 243

PDF Views: 73




  • Digital Health Technologies for Universal Health Coverage: A Promising Change

Abstract Views: 243  |  PDF Views: 73

Authors

Prakash Babu Kodali
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod 671 316,, India
Shankar Das
International Institute of Health Management Research, New Delhi 110 075, India

Abstract


Digital health technologies act as health system strengthening tools and facilitate achievement of universal health coverage (UHC). In line with the United Nations sustainable Development Goals, India launched the Ayushman Bharat Programme (ABP) to strengthen health services and achieve UHC. Digital health technologies could be instrumental in improving the efficiency of ABP. Given that India is in the initial steps towards UHC and digital health deployment, synergy between health programmes and digital health policies is essential to realize the goal of UHC. This article aims to discuss the scope of digital health technologies for achieving UHC, their application, opportunities and challenges in the context of ABP in India.

Keywords


Digital Health Technologies, Programmes And Policies, Sustainable Development Goals, Universal Health Coverage.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv120%2Fi4%2F637-643