Digitalization of Healthcare in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs): An Overview

Abstract

AbstractThe digitalization of healthcare- considered as the collective outcome of individual digitization attempts- is an ongoing global trend, which has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. It occurs at a different rate and follows different implementation pathways across the world. However, there is still little published information relating to this process in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), a knowledge gap which this good addresses head on. In this first chapter we present an overview of the main themes of the current book, the rationale behind the choice of terminologies and also the aims of this book. The latter are to highlight the many yet disconnected success stories from LMICs, to identify challenges and opportunities, and to maintain the spotlight on the dynamic nature of the healthcare digitalization process.