1、Healthcare PracticeHow digital tools could boost efficiency in African health systemsBy expanding their use of digital health tools,African health systems could realize up to 15 percent efficiency gains by 2030 and reinvest the savings to improve access and outcomes.March 2023 Media Lens King/Getty

2、ImagesThis article is a collaborative effort by Ocane Jousset,Marilyn Kimeu,Thomas Mller,Giovanni Sforza,Ying Sunny Sun,Ali Ustun,and Matt Wilson,representing views from McKinseys Healthcare Practice.The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of digitalization in supporting access to essential

3、 healthcare services in the most remote areas.With the largest disease burden globally and the most limited healthcare resources,Africa has an opportunity to use the lessons learned during the pandemic to expand its use of digital health tools(see sidebar“What we mean by digital health tools”).Altho

4、ugh digital health in most African regions is still in its infancy,advances in smartphone connectivity,data management policies(including to boost interoperability,privacy,and security),and data infrastructure are starting to change the ways health systems work in Africa.And rapid expansion in other

5、 areas,such as mobile financing,shows that leapfrogging is possible.It is clear that digital health tools could play an important role in boosting health system performance in Africa,but they could also help improve efficiency.First,they could improve access to essential health services,especially f

6、or hardtoreach populations,women,refugees,persons with1 Paul O.Ouma et al.,“Access to emergency hospital care provided by the public sector in subSaharan Africa in 2015:A geocoded inventory and spatial analysis,”The Lancet,January 2018,Volume 6,Number 3.2 Liam Donaldson et al.,Delivering quality hea