Exploring the effects of digital technologies in health financing for universal health coverage: a synthesis of country experiences and lessons

Abstract

Abstract The use of digital technologies (DTs) for health financing receives increased attention in policy, practice and research. However, not much robust evidence exists on their effects on the intermediate and final universal health coverage objectives. This paper seeks to contribute to evidence gathering, by synthesizing the findings from nine country case studies which covered diverse applications of DTs and identified their effects on health financing and universal health coverage objectives. This paper also draws on review papers on the use of DTs for health financing. Our synthesis reveals that DTs can support and simplify health financing tasks and thus contribute to enhanced efficiency and transparency and more equitable resource distribution. If well designed, DTs can help overcome challenges inherent in paper-based data systems and enable otherwise hardly implementable policy options, especially options that rely on near real-time exchange of data. Yet, the studies also point to various risks. Caution is for instance required when the use of DTs enhances inequities between population groups due to various digital divides. The findings point to a number of policy orientations. There is need to include the application of DTs for health financing in national digital health strategies and to develop health financing specific guidance and regulation. This is for instance necessary to avoid that DTs negatively affect financial protection. Clear stipulations related to equity will serve to ensure that positive effects accrue to vulnerable population groups. The future research agenda calls for more and methodologically robust evidence generation with a clear universal health coverage orientation.