Abstract
Countries finance health care using a combination of 3 main functions: raising resources for health, pooling resources, and purchasing health services. In this paper, we examine how digital health technologies can be used to enhance these health financing functions in low- and middle-income countries and can thus contribute to progress toward universal health coverage. We illustrate our points by presenting some recent innovations in digital technologies for financing health care, identifying their contributions and their limits. Some examples include a mobile-health wallet application used in Kenya that encourages households to put money aside for future health expenses; an online software platform developed by a startup in Tanzania in partnership with a private insurance provider to give individuals and families the opportunity to choose among different health coverage options; and digital maps by a number of startups that bring together data on health facility locations and capacity, including equipment, staff, and types of services offered. We also sketch an agenda for future research and action for digital strategies for health financing. The development and adoption of effective solutions that align well with the universal health coverage agenda will require strong partnerships between stakeholders and enough proactive stewardship by authorities.
Highlights
There is a strong movement promoting digital technologies as a means of strengthening health systems, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including innovations for demand generation, better management of information, and improved efficiency of health workers.[1]
The main purpose of this paper is to explore how digital solutions can contribute to the ambitious agenda of progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) in LMICs
The main objective of this paper was to explore how digital solutions could contribute to the effectiveness of health financing institutional arrangements in the context of LMICs and to recommend future directions for research and innovation in this space
Summary
There is a strong movement promoting digital technologies as a means of strengthening health systems, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including innovations for demand generation, better management of information, and improved efficiency of health workers.[1] the role and potential of digital technologies in financing health care in the context of health systems strengthening is poorly understood. In many LMICs, traditionally, the government was responsible for all key health system functions, including priority setting, financing, allocation of inputs, and provision of health services. This is exemplified by the original 1948 tax-funded British National Health Service model in which health services were provided free of cost at the point of care by public civil servants in government-owned facilities.
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