RHC in cooperation with Dure Technologies develops Digital Health business case and Digital health intervention modules for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and mental health conditions. Health focused business and investment cases offer a compelling economic argument to governments for scaling up WHO and ITU recommended measures by offering an evidence-based quantitative and qualitative analysis of the total burden of disease and the expected socio-economic benefits of scaled up action. They serve as both an advocacy and an analytical instrument to support decision making. The demand for national investment cases has been high among governments, and the results of the analysis have been used by policymakers in design and implementation of public health measures at country level.
Digital tools are leading to better and faster healthcare that is more empowering and accessible for patients, more efficient for providers and more cost-effective for health systems. Digital health is a powerful enabler that low-and middle-income communities can use to address the growing burden of NCDs at all stages of prevention/care, support mental health and achieve UHC.
The digital health business case is designed to promote the application of relevant digital health solutions to prevent and control NCDs, address common NCD risk factors (e.g. tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, etc.), support mental health care provision, as well as to improve Universal Health Coverage.
The business case reviews and assesses existing evidence-based digital health solutions, the key enabling factors and cost-effectiveness of implementing and scaling up different digital health interventions, how they impact health, social and economic outcomes and what return-on-investment they will provide.
The continuous development of digital technology and its promising wide-scale applications in the area of health (as recently demonstrated during the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis) create demand for expanded analysis to encompass opportunities related to integration of digital health solutions in public health policies and measures.
In addition to the digital health business case, RHC develops interventions modules for national investment cases in response to request from countries that NCD and mental health investment cases have been developed to provide support on promoting and implementing digital health solutions. a In particular, these modules looks into the solutions based on two-way messaging, online programs, mobile applications (apps), virtual reality (VR), telehealth, connected and/or wearable devices, telemedicine, online peer-support, online counselling, as well as AI-based and big data-enabled applications.
This project comes at a strategic time, when there is a heightened need to leverage emerging technologies to improve accessibility and quality of health services among vulnerable populations. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has served as a major catalyst for the use of digital technology in health. Many countries have resorted to digitally-enabled tools and services to mitigate the disruptions in healthcare delivery caused by the new virus and to enhance health system capacity where conventional tools and resources were not available or not applicable.
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