Management of mobile health projects in developing countries: An empirical study

Abstract

This study examines the successful implementation of mobile health (mHealth) projects. Public health has become a cause for concern for many nations. Countries such as India among others have launched several initiatives in recent years with the aim to improve public health. However, these initiatives always face the problem of allocating scarce resources to a large number of patients. One method to overcome this issue is through the use of mHealth technologies that can provide a variety of health-related services anywhere, anytime in a cost-effective manner. However, mHealth too faces the same issues as other information and communication technology projects such as lack of infrastructure and usability issues. For this reason, despite its potential, most mHealth projects still remain in the pilot stage. The study analyses 54 mHealth projects conducted in developing nations between 2011 and 2016 across multiple databases. To maintain accuracy and objectivity of results a text-mining approach is followed. The results of the analysis are then used to create questions for structured interviews which are conducted with different stakeholders of an mHealth project operated in Ahmedabad, India. The daily operations of the system are also observed. The interviews and observations of the functioning of the system are then analyzed using Atlas.ti. The results of this analysis are reconciled with the results of the text-mining to create a framework that governs the implementation and operation of mHealth projects in developing nations. The framework found seven key areas that influenced a mHealth project — infrastructure, design, personnel, end-user, value, public policy and finances. Thereafter, a review of management and technology literature across these dimensions was conducted to develop recommendations for successful implementation of projects along these seven dimensions identified in the framework.