Mobile eHealth for health workers in developing countries: impacts on organisational progress and users' behaviour

This presentation is a summary of ongoing research about the impact of Mobile ICTs on users and organisations in developing countries. Both organisational and end users’ behaviour are key to the success of mobile health systems.The author illustrates this through two case studies in India and Uganda, the former one a failure, and the latter a success.

Key Points:

• eHealth , which is the use of information technology for health processes, can contribute to the enjoyment of fundamental human rights

• There are a number of applications of ICTs in the health sector, including electronic health records, health data collection and drug management systems

• In India, the expected impacts included digital data collection, decision support system for immunization management and improved and timely data collection

• The failure of the programme was due to improper recognition, management and analysis of human and organisational issues

• The expected outcomes of the Ugandan Health Information Network (UHIN) included communication systems, decision support system, and provision of access to organizational information systems.

• Both user and organisational impact of UHIN were positive, with an improved performance of district health systems and high sense of ownership

• The author proposes a model for Mobile eHealth- highlighting both the context and technology