Using Technology to Strengthen Public Sector Healthcare Service Delivery

Bringing higher efficiency in public sector healthcare delivery, by re-purposing ICT solutions developed for the private

Project start date : 01/02/2018

Last updated : 16/03/2022

Beneficiary country : India

Healthcare themes targeted

  • Mother and child health
  • Primary healthcare
  • Malaria/paludism
  • Infectious diseases
  • Sexual and reproductive health
  • HIV/AIDS

Fields of application

  • Health professional training
  • Telemedicine (remote diagnosis and consultations)
  • Patient monitoring and medical data

Stage of development

  • Pilot project/testing/trials

Financing method

  • Private (private investors, crowdfunding, philanthropy, etc.)
  • NGO
  • Government agency (USAID, etc.)

Area where the project is utilised

  • International (in several countries)

Economic model(s)

  • Revenue generated by the beneficiaries/healthcare facilities

Target audience

  • Healthcare professionals and structures (hospitals, healthcare centres/clinics, health networks)
  • Sick people
  • Pregnant women
  • Children - adolescents (ages 6-18)
  • Young children (0-5 years)

Project objectives

  • Decreased mortality
  • Decreased morbidity
  • Improved treatment

Materials used

  • Cellular (mobile) phone
  • Smartphone
  • Tablet
  • Computer
  • Connected objects

Technologies used

  • Mobile telecommunications (without data connection)
  • Internet
  • Geolocation
  • Mobile app (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, HTML5, etc.)
  • Other (please specify)

Offline use

Yes

Open source

Yes

Open data

No

Independent evaluation

No

About the sponsor

World Health Partners

World Health Partners (WHP), established as a not-for-profit organization in 2008, delivers health and reproductive health services within walkable distance to underserved communities, particularly rural poor. It enhances the impact of already available resources, with the innovative use of frugal ICT and deep learning management systems so urgent needs can be addressed without depending on external support. WHP’s programs are currently implemented in India and Kenya and are poised for further expansion. WHP’s approach is to create the entire ecosystem needed for quality healthcare, by developing and deploying ICT tools at every level: patients get quality medical services from remotely connecting urban doctors and low-cost medicines from neighborhood pharmacies whose supplies are digitally managed; networked laboratories upload reports to electronic medical records in the cloud and e-referrals are facilitated by inter-connecting resources. Since the settings in which WHP operates usually have sub-par medical resources compounded with unique social, religious and financial factors, its ICT solutions are sensitized to these contexts to ensure efficient service delivery. WHP avoids vertical programming and follow horizontal approach that deliver a broad range of services and products to create volumes, necessary for reducing cost of delivery. ICT is the lynchpin of bringing various resources together to fashion a viable service delivery structure: rural entrepreneurs invest in WHP’s ICT solutions, specially developed for them, to become the local interface for the patients. City doctors use digital solutions that combine sophisticated algorithms and vital parameters to standardize care. The audio-visual links working in such straitened conditions compensate for the lack of physical proximity between the doctor and the patient. The ICT solutions also enable doctors located anywhere – public sector or private, home or clinic — to obtain vital parameters, such a blood pressure, pulse, temperature, stethoscope sounds of heart and lungs, blood counts, blood glucose levels, foetal sounds and cardiac signals. The ICT system has been stabilized and refined over 220,000 consultations. WHP invests its resources in skilling local entrepreneurs, many of women, and doctors to serve their communities and earn a higher income, both necessary for achieving sustainability. Within the broad range of services, the main focus is to ensure safe motherhood and child survival services. Ante-natal care, immunization and family planning services require follow-up with clients over long spans of time. ICT solutions with special features of automated alerts and computer-aided responses enable efficient implementation within limited resources.
In Kenya, since June 2015, WHP initially established a franchisee network of women entrepreneurs (Sky Centres) in Homa Bay County, who used the ICT platform to connect with city-based doctors to treat minor illnesses. The program transitioned to three nurse-based tele-linked medical centers (Maisha Clinics) for providing gynecological, reproductive and child health services that also required the ICT solutions to be repurposed. Nurses provide a range of services on their own, and use an ICT system to deal with cases beyond their medical capacity with help from city based doctors.

Sector : Institutions (Communities, public authorities, NGOs, foundations, etc.)

Country of origin : Kenya

Contact : Sponsor website Project website