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A Review of Realizing the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Goals by 2030: Part 2- What is the Role of eHealth and Technology?

  • Systems-Level Quality Improvement
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Abstract

This paper is the second part of a review of how to realize the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals by 2030. The objective of this review is to investigate the role of eHealth and technology in achieving UHC, focusing on four aspects: 1) identifying the importance of UHC and highlighting how UHC is influenced by health systems and eHealth, 2) investigating the current status of UHC worldwide and indicating the current challenges facing the realization of UHC, 3) reviewing the current research activities in the UHC domain and emphasizing the role of eHealth and technology in achieving UHC, and 4) discussing the results of the review to identify the current gaps in UHC implantation and the corresponding research lines for future investigation. This part covers the last two aspects through providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of eHealth in the current research activities in the UHC domain. Specifically, eHealth can be extensively deployed in connecting the healthcare information systems, strengthening the health systems, building the health workforce capacity, in addition to forming frameworks of integrated mHealth strategies for achieving UHC.

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Abbreviations

GIZ:

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH

HDD:

Health Data Dictionary

HIIS:

Health Insurance Information System

HIS:

Health Information System

HRH:

Human Resources for Health

HSS:

Health Systems Strengthening

ICT:

Information and Communication Technology

JLN:

Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage

LMICs:

Low and Middle-Income Countries

MDGs:

Millennium Development Goals

NeSF:

National eHealth Standards Framework

NHS:

National Health System

R&I:

Research and Innovation

RMNCH:

Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health

STI:

Science, Technology, and Innovation

WB:

World Bank

WHO:

World Health Organization

UHC:

Universal Health Coverage.

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  1. Biomedical Informatics Center of Excellence (BMICoE), Information Technology Institute (ITI), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Smart Village, B 148, 28 Km Cairo-Alex Desert Road, PO Box 12577, Giza, Egypt

    Rada Hussein

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Correspondence to Rada Hussein.

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Hussein, R. A Review of Realizing the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Goals by 2030: Part 2- What is the Role of eHealth and Technology?. J Med Syst 39, 72 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-015-0255-x

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