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Information and communications technology for future health systems in developing countries

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  • Lucas, Henry

Abstract

There has been much discussion of the role that recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) could play in improving health systems in developing countries, but limited independent analysis of existing applications. Combining a case study approach with a general discussion of the issues, this paper attempts to assess the potential benefits of a diverse range of ICT innovations and some of the constraints they will need to overcome. Four broad areas are considered: improvements in traditional health information systems; computer-aided diagnosis and treatment monitoring; a range of applications generically labelled 'telemedicine'; and the use of ICT to inform general populations on health and healthcare. The final section speculates on the possible medium-term impacts of ICT in terms of improving the performance of existing systems, allowing scope for radical innovations, or even changing basic assumptions about the provider-patient relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucas, Henry, 2008. "Information and communications technology for future health systems in developing countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2122-2132, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:66:y:2008:i:10:p:2122-2132
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    1. Bloom, Gerald & Standing, Hilary, 2008. "Future health systems: Why future? Why now?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2067-2075, May.
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    1. Andrew McNee, 2012. "Illuminating the local: can non-formal institutions be complementary to health system development in Papua New Guinea?," Development Policy Centre Discussion Papers 1215, Development Policy Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    2. Issam Khelfaoui & Yuantao Xie & Muhammad Hafeez & Danish Ahmed & Houssem Eddine Degha & Hicham Meskher, 2022. "Information Communication Technology and Infant Mortality in Low-Income Countries: Empirical Study Using Panel Data Models," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-24, June.
    3. Bervell, Brandford & Al-Samarraie, Hosam, 2019. "A comparative review of mobile health and electronic health utilization in sub-Saharan African countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 1-16.
    4. Muhammad Tariq Majeed & Farzana Naheed Khan, 2019. "Do information and communication technologies (ICTs) contribute to health outcomes? An empirical analysis," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 183-206, January.
    5. Bloom, Gerald & Standing, Hilary & Lloyd, Robert, 2008. "Markets, information asymmetry and health care: Towards new social contracts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2076-2087, May.
    6. Silvana Rossy Brito & Aleksandra Socorro da Silva & Eulália Carvalho Mata & Nandamudi Lankalapalli Vijaykumar & Cláudio Alex Jorge Rocha & Maurílio Abreu Monteiro & João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque Co, 2018. "An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 883-899, August.
    7. Mostafa Sheykhotayefeh & Reza Safdari & Marjan Ghazisaeedi & Niloofar Mohammadzadeh & Seyed Hossein Khademi & Vahid Torabi & Mohamad Jebraeily & Elham Maserat & Seyedeh Sedigheh Seyed Farajolah, 2017. "Hospital Information Systems Implementation: An Evaluation of Critical Success Factors in Northeast of Iran," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(2), pages 1-93, February.
    8. Silvana Rossy Brito & Aleksandra Socorro da Silva & Eulália Carvalho Mata & Nandamudi Lankalapalli Vijaykumar & Cláudio Alex Jorge Rocha & Maurílio Abreu Monteiro & João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque Co, 0. "An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    9. Johanna Brinkel & Alexander Krämer & Ralf Krumkamp & Jürgen May & Julius Fobil, 2014. "Mobile Phone-Based mHealth Approaches for Public Health Surveillance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-24, November.
    10. Marco Remondino, 2018. "Information Technology in Healthcare: HHC-MOTES, a Novel Set of Metrics to Analyse IT Sustainability in Different Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.
    11. Simon Batchelor & Linda Waldman & Gerry Bloom & Sabrina Rasheed & Nigel Scott & Tanvir Ahmed & Nazib Uz Zaman Khan & Tamanna Sharmin, 2015. "Understanding Health Information Seeking from an Actor-Centric Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-22, July.
    12. Rian Marais & Sara S. Grobbelaar & Imke H. de Kock, 2020. "Healthcare Technology Transfer in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Inductive Approach," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(08), pages 1-39, January.
    13. Jelle van Gurp & Olaitan Soyannwo & Kehinde Odebunmi & Simpa Dania & Martine van Selm & Evert van Leeuwen & Kris Vissers & Jeroen Hasselaar, 2015. "Telemedicine’s Potential to Support Good Dying in Nigeria: A Qualitative Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.

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