Evidence-based digital investments can help governments save up to 15% of health system costs: World Bank report

The World Bank in its statement said that it is committed to helping low-and middle-income countries make digital-in-health a reality to improve health for everyone.

“India has shown the way in digital health and system, where they have integrated the difference and made it work for a large population. Ayushman Bharat is an example that the world is looking at,” Marelize Gorgens Prestidge, lead author of the report, ‘Digital-in-Health: Unlocking the Value for Everyone’, said. Photo: worldbank.org

It is estimated that health systems worldwide use less than 5% of available health data to improve patient outcomes, which means that decisions are not based on data or data is not used effectively to make improvements, according to a new World Bank report launched on August 19.

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The report also finds that digital technology and data are especially helpful to prevent and manage chronic diseases; care for both young and ageing populations; and prepare for future health emergencies and health risks triggered by climate change. The report titled ‘Digital-in-Health: Unlocking the Value for Everyone’, was released during the G20 Health Ministers’ meeting in Gandhinagar.

The report further found that improving health is getting harder, not easier. Health systems face serious and growing challenges, and policy decisions are too often not based on reliable data. “India has shown the way in digital health and system, where they have integrated the difference and made it work for a large population. Ayushman Bharat is an example that the world is looking at,” Marelize Gorgens Prestidge, lead author of the study, told The Hindu.

She added that within challenging fiscal environments, people-centred and evidence-based digital investments can help governments save up to 15% of health system costs, and reach the underserved.

“In India, we have shown that digital innovations such as tele-consultations have reached more than 140 million people and provided accessible, affordable and efficient healthcare for everyone,” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, adding that India believes a digital-in-health approach can unlock the value of digital technologies and data, and has the potential to prevent disease and lower healthcare costs while helping patients manage chronic conditions.

The World Bank in its statement said that it is committed to helping low-and middle-income countries make digital-in-health a reality to improve health for everyone. The statement said that over the past decade, the World Bank has invested almost $4 billion in digital health, including in health information systems, digital governance, identification systems, and infrastructure.

To help countries embrace a digital-in-health approach, the report proposes three essential areas to guide investments, which includes prioritising evidence-based digital investments that tackle the biggest problems and focus on the needs of patients and providers; connecting the regulatory, governance, information, and infrastructure dots so that patients know data is safe and health workers can use digital solutions transparently to scale trust-based digital health for the long run with sustainable financing; and improved capacity and skills for digital solutions.

The report also recommends strong country leadership involving all relevant sectors and stakeholders, including civil society. “Digital technology and data improvements will involve investments beyond the health sector and new partnerships with the private sector. A digital-in-health mindset needs to be a routine aspect of annual health system planning, budgeting, and implementation,” the report states.