Evaluation of a digital triage platform in Uganda: A quality improvement initiative to reduce the time to antibiotic administration.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is the leading cause of death in children under five in low- and middle-income countries. The rapid identification of the sickest children and timely antibiotic administration may improve outcomes. We developed and implemented a digital triage platform to rapidly identify critically ill children to facilitate timely intravenous antibiotic administration. OBJECTIVE: This quality improvement initiative sought to reduce the time to antibiotic administration at a dedicated children's hospital outpatient department in Mbarara, Uganda. INTERVENTION AND STUDY DESIGN: The digital platform consisted of a mobile application that collects clinical signs, symptoms, and vital signs to prioritize children through a combination of emergency triggers and predictive risk algorithms. A computer-based dashboard enabled the prioritization of children by displaying an overview of all children and their triage categories. We evaluated the impact of the digital triage platform over an 11-week pre-implementation phase and an 11-week post-implementation phase. The time from the end of triage to antibiotic administration was compared to evaluate the quality improvement initiative. RESULTS: There was a difference of -11 minutes (95% CI, -16.0 to -6.0; p < 0.001; Mann-Whitney U test) in time to antibiotics, from 51 minutes (IQR, 27.0-94.0) pre-implementation to 44 minutes (IQR, 19.0-74.0) post-implementation. Children prioritized as emergency received the greatest time benefit (-34 minutes; 95% CI, -9.0 to -58.0; p < 0.001; Mann-Whitney U test). The proportion of children who waited more than an hour until antibiotics decreased by 21.4% (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: A data-driven patient prioritization and continuous feedback for healthcare workers enabled by a digital triage platform led to expedited antibiotic therapy for critically ill children with sepsis. This platform may have a more significant impact in facilities without existing triage processes and prioritization of treatments, as is commonly encountered in low resource settings.

Primary Care 2030: Creating an Enabling Ecosystem for Disruptive Primary Care Models to Achieve Universal Health Coverage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Background: Forty years after Alma Ata, there is renewed commitment to strengthen primary health care as a foundation for achieving universal health coverage, but there is limited consensus on how to build strong primary health care systems to achieve these goals. Methods: We convened a diverse group of global stakeholders for a high-level dialogue on how to create an enabling ecosystem for disruptive primary care innovation. We focused our discussion on four themes: workforce innovation and strengthening; impactful use of data and technology; private sector engagement; and innovative financing mechanisms. Findings: Here, we present a summary of our convening's proceedings, with specific recommendations for strengthening primary health care systems within each of these four domains. Conclusions: In the wake of the Astana Declaration, there is global consensus that high-quality primary health care must be the foundation for universal health coverage. Significant disruptive innovation will be required to realize this goal. We offer our recommendations to the global community to catalyze further discourse and inform policy-making and program development on the path to Health for All by 2030.

Government resource contributions to the private-not-for-profit sector in Uganda: evolution, adaptations and implications for universal health coverage.

BACKGROUND: A case study was prepared examining government resource contributions (GRCs) to private-not-for-profit (PNFP) providers in Uganda. It focuses on Primary Health Care (PHC) grants to the largest non-profit provider network, the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau (UCMB), from 1997 to 2015. The framework of complex adaptive systems was used to explain changes in resource contributions and the relationship between the Government and UCMB. METHODS: Documents and key informant interviews with the important actors provided the main sources of qualitative data. Trends for GRCs and service outputs for the study period were constructed from existing databases used to monitor service inputs and outputs. The case study's findings were validated during two meetings with a broad set of stakeholders. RESULTS: Three major phases were identified in the evolution of GRCs and the relationship between the Government and UCMB: 1) Initiation, 2) Rapid increase in GRCs, and 3) Declining GRCs. The main factors affecting the relationship's evolution were: 1) Financial deficits at PNFP facilities, 2) advocacy by PNFP network leaders, 3) changes in the government financial resource envelope, 4) variations in the "good will" of government actors, and 5) changes in donor funding modalities. Responses to the above dynamics included changes in user fees, operational costs of PNFPs, and government expectations of UCMB. Quantitative findings showed a progressive increase in service outputs despite the declining value of GRCs during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: GRCs in Uganda have evolved influenced by various factors and the complex interactions between government and PNFPs. The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda should pay attention to these factors and their interactions when shaping how governments work with PNFPs to advance UHC. GRCs could be leveraged to mitigate the financial burden on communities served by PNFPs. Governments seeking to advance UHC goals should explore policies to expand GRCs and other modalities to subsidize the operational costs of PNFPs.

World Health Assembly Resolution 60.22. [corrected].

The World Health Assembly 2007 Resolution 60.22 tasked the global health community to address the lack of emergency care in low- and middle-income countries. Little progress has yet been made in integrating emergency care into most low- and middle-income-country health systems. At a rural Ugandan district hospital, however, a collaborative between a nongovernmental organization and local and national stakeholders has implemented an innovative emergency care training program. To our knowledge, this is the first description of using task shifting in general hospital-based emergency care through creation of a new nonphysician clinician cadre, the emergency care practitioner. The program provides an example of how emergency care can be practically implemented in low-resource settings in which physician numbers are limited. The Ministry of Health is directing its integration into the national health care system as a component of a larger ongoing effort to develop a tiered emergency care system (out-of-hospital, clinic- and hospital-based provider and physician trainings) in Uganda. This tiered emergency care system is an example of a horizontal health system advancement that offers a potentially attractive solution to meet the mandate of World Health Assembly 60.22 by providing inexpensive educational interventions that can make emergency care truly accessible to the rural and urban communities of low- and middle-income countries.