Leveraging technology solutions to deliver integrated patient-centered health services

Introduction: Public health care providers are often unable to reach the poor and those who live in remote areas. Private providers can fill this gap. Technology is improving access and quality of basic services in developing countries. In mid-2014, there were 329 million mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this research is to identify how technology can be leveraged to enhance the integration of health care delivery in public private provider networks.

Methods: Existing literature on health service delivery models is reviewed to analyze the key characteristics of each in terms of affordability, quality, efficiency, and access. Various cases are studied to identify technology solutions introduced in service delivery models across different sectors.

Results: Private sector services are client-centered and often available in underserved areas. However, those services are frequently not well-regulated in developing countries, and fragmentation is a concern. The public sector, which is more centralized, is more effective in monitoring public health.  The use of mobile technology has been shown to facilitate health information exchange across providers, enabling the delivery of integrated care and improving performance through benchmarking. Furthermore, it can provide valuable information on the patient experience, enhancing the ability to deliver patient-centered care.

Conclusion: Public and private providers can play complementary roles in expanding access to care., but integrated provider networks are needed in order to maximize efficiency and reach. Case studies demonstrate that technology can be used to deliver services that serve the needs of patients while also enabling information sharing across sectors.