Abstract
BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) offers a promising solution to the multitude of challenges the Vietnamese health system faces, but there is a scarcity of published information on mHealth in Vietnam.ObjectiveThe objectives of this scoping study were (1) to summarize the extent, range, and nature of mHealth initiatives in Vietnam and (2) to examine the opportunities and threats of mHealth utilization in the Vietnamese context.MethodsThis scoping study systematically identified and extracted relevant information from 20 past and current mHealth initiatives in Vietnam. The study includes multimodal information sources, including published literature, gray literature (ie, government reports and unpublished literature), conference presentations, Web-based documents, and key informant interviews.ResultsWe extracted information from 27 records from the electronic search and conducted 14 key informant interviews, allowing us to identify 20 mHealth initiatives in Vietnam. Most of the initiatives were primarily funded by external donors (n=15), while other initiatives were government funded (n=1) or self-funded (n=4). A majority of the initiatives targeted vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations (n=11), aimed to prevent the occurrence of disease (n=12), and used text messaging (short message service, SMS) as part of their intervention (n=14). The study revealed that Vietnamese mHealth implementation has been challenged by factors including features unique to the Vietnamese language (n=4) and sociocultural factors (n=3).ConclusionsThe largest threats to the popularity of mHealth initiatives are the absence of government policy, lack of government interest, heavy dependence on foreign funding, and lack of technological infrastructure. Finally, while current mHealth initiatives have already demonstrated promising opportunities for alternative models of funding, such as social entrepreneurship or private business models, sustainable mHealth initiatives outside of those funded by external donors have not yet been undertaken.
Highlights
BackgroundVietnam has attained remarkable economic and health achievements in recent decades [1], but the health system still faces significant challenges
The methodology used cannot provide results about Mobile health (mHealth)’s acceptability or ability to provision higher quality care in Vietnam. These results provide important insights that are unique to Vietnam but have broad implications for mHealth worldwide
Our findings suggest the largest advantage of mHealth in Vietnam is its ability to reach hard-to-reach populations and vulnerable groups
Summary
BackgroundVietnam has attained remarkable economic and health achievements in recent decades [1], but the health system still faces significant challenges. There are severe shortages in health resources, especially in remote regions, with only 7.9 physicians per 10,000 individuals overall in 2014 [5] and as few as 1 per 10,000 physicians in hard-to-reach areas [6] These systemic challenges have encouraged the use of technology-based innovations in health care, mHealth or “the use of mobile and wireless technologies to support the achievement of health objectives” [7]. A 2013 review of mHealth interventions in low- and middle-income countries found that few mHealth initiatives were operating at scale, and there was little evidence of formal evaluations of these initiatives [9]. Mobile health (mHealth) offers a promising solution to the multitude of challenges the Vietnamese health system faces, but there is a scarcity of published information on mHealth in Vietnam
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