Abstract
Background:The use of mobile technology in the health sector, often referred to as mHealth, is an innovation that is being used in countries to improve health outcomes and increase and improve both the demand and supply of health care services. This study assesses the actual cost-effectiveness of initiating and implementing the use of the mHealth as a supply side job aid for antenatal care. The study also estimates the cost-effectiveness ratio if mHealth was also used to encourage and track women through facility delivery.Methods:The methodology utilized a retrospective, micro-costing technique to extract costing data from health facilities and administrative offices to estimate the costs of implementing the mHealth antenatal care program and estimate the cost of facility delivery for those that used the antenatal care services in the year 2014. Five different costing tools were developed to assist in the costing analysis.Findings:The results show that the provision of tetanus toxoid vaccination and malaria prophylaxis during pregnancy and improved labor and delivery during facility delivery contributed the most to mortality reductions for women, neonates and stillbirths in mHealth facilities versus non-mHealth facilities. The cost-effectiveness ratio of this program for antenatal care and no demand-side generation for facility delivery is US$13,739 per life saved. The cost-effectiveness ratio adding in an additional demand-side generation for facility births reduces to US$9,806 per life saved.Conclusion:These results show that mHealth programs are inexpensive and save a number of lives for the dollar investment and could save additional lives and funds if women were also encouraged to seek facility delivery.
Highlights
In the effort to improve maternal health, the global community has embarked on programs to increase demand for antenatal services, increase institutional delivery, identify risks in pregnancy and effectively manage obstetric emergencies
While there is a great deal of optimism about the potential of mHealth for improving health outcomes in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs), the evidence base currently is comprised of many smaller scale mHealth initiatives [4, 5]
The first scenario captures the lives saved for the mHealth program that mainly focused on ANC interventions with minimal demand-side interventions linking women to facility births
Summary
In the effort to improve maternal health, the global community has embarked on programs to increase demand for antenatal services, increase institutional delivery, identify risks in pregnancy and effectively manage obstetric emergencies. There is a great need to improve antenatal care and increase access and demand for services as well as a better connection to facility births. Against this backdrop, new mobile technologies are being employed to support interventions tackling maternal and neonatal mortality, especially in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs). The cost-effectiveness ratio of this program for antenatal care and no demand-side generation for facility delivery is US$13,739 per life saved. Conclusion: These results show that mHealth programs are inexpensive and save a number of lives for the dollar investment and could save additional lives and funds if women were encouraged to seek facility delivery
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
