LASHMA COMPLETES PHASE I IMPLEMENTATION RESEARCH TO TEST EQUITABLE DIGITAL HEALTHCARE
The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), has completed the Phase I implementation research to test equitable digital-first care in Lagos State.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, disclosed this on Tuesday during the multi-stakeholders workshop organised by the Agency in consortium with Solina Centre for International Development and Research (SCIDaR) and Village Reach at Water Cress Hotels, Ikeja.
Dr. Zamba said that with the research, four models have been identified and proposed to LASHMA for the operation of telehealth services in the State. These, she mentioned, are the Hotline model, Market kiosk model, Community Pharmacy kiosks and video-enabled mobile application model.
She recalled that during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Lagos State Government established the Telemedicine service (EKOTELEMED) to reduce the number of patients who were going to Hospitals, and to protect both the health workers and residents in the State from contacting COVID-19 virus.
Since the establishment of the Telemedicine service, she said that many residents have been enjoying the service from the comfort of their homes or offices via audio or visual means on their phones.
This, she explained, prompted the research so that residents in underserved populations who, due to reasons such as distance to facility, geographical location and high cost of transportation to the nearest hospital, are prevented from accessing medical services when the need arises.
Dr. Zamba further said that the Government is working hard to ensure that telehealth services are taken closer to the underserved population especially now that the result from the assessment has revealed that respondents were willing to utilise telehealth models to access a broad range of healthcare services such as General Health Information, Diagnosis of Health Conditions, Prescription of Medicine, Chronic Disease Management, Immunization, and Family Planning Services.
Urging stakeholders to review the hypotheses and select the most appropriate one suitable for the target audience. Dr. Zamba promised that the Agency would also review the research, consider and implement the best option which will be most appropriate for the target audience.
The Project Director, SCIDaR, Mr. King Ewa-Henshaw, while delivering the technical learning assessment report to the stakeholders, said that 1, 064 respondents were interviewed and segmented into three vulnerability groups.
He added that 51 per cent of the population was in the least vulnerable segment, 30 per cent belonged to the more vulnerable segment and 12 per cent were in the most vulnerable category while seven per cent of the respondents were uncategorised as they do not belong to any segment outlined in the pathway methodology.
Mr. King said that during the research, 64 underserved wards were identified through IBILE Divisions and these were based on health outcomes, Socio-Economic Status (SES) and health facility coverage.
The Project Director disclosed that the research also revealed that if telehealth service is taken to the people, 81 per cent of the population have agreed that telehealth services will be more convenient for them to access care and more than 70 per cent of the sampled population are willing to pay at least N3,000 premium per annum for Telehealth Services.
On the language to use, he said that data suggested that LASHMA should provide telehealth service primarily in Yoruba and English Language as 88 per cent of the population speak Yoruba, 66 per cent speak English and only three per cent speak neither Yoruba or English.
The research funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had stakeholders such as the Member, Board of Trustees, Society for Telemedicine and EHealth in Nigeria, Dr. Raphael Akangbe; Chairman, Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Lagos Branch, Pharm. Lawrence Ekhator; Consultant, BMGF, Mr. Olukunle Daramola; Telehealth service providers and target audience were also at the event.