Planning National Telemedicine and Health Hotline Services

For many low- and middle-income countries, digital health solutions are the best way to increase community access to health information and health care. This became even more apparent during the coronavirus pandemic, when countries with low health-care-worker-to-population ratios--and large populations that do not live close to a health center--needed better ways for their citizens to access health services. In many countries, telemedicine and health hotline services have played an important role in filling access gaps, which can present private sector providers with opportunities for growth. When the private sector and government work together it can lead to major advances in health services that reach more communities. However, just because a solution is impactful does not mean it will be sustainable. To ensure any solution sustains impact at scale, it is important for the government to lead it from the beginning, and eventually regulate, and perhaps own, the solution even if it outsources all, or parts, of it to service providers. This toolkit is designed for software or call center service providers interested in working with government to establish nationwide telemedicine or health hotline services.