The Impact of Mobile Phone Technology in Bridging the Gaps in The Health Care Service Delivery in Kenya: A Case of Nairobi County. (Preprint)
BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION: The Kenyan constitution seeks to guarantee every citizen the right to quality healthcare services. Quite often this delivery is hampered by geographical location, socio-economic statuses among other factors. The country has a high mobile phone penetration rate. Digitalization of the healthcare sector is a vital aspect that contributes to effective delivery of care services. This study set out to assess the impact of mobile technology in closing the gaps within the health care service delivery. The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of mobile phone technology in bridging the gap in healthcare service delivery in Kenya with a focus on Nairobi, Kibera informal settlements. Hypothesis testing using P-value of 0.05 also showed that use of mobile phone technology positively impacted the delivery of healthcare services. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of mobile phone technology in bridging the gap in healthcare service delivery in Kenya with a focus on Nairobi, Kibera informal settlements. Hypothesis testing using P-value of 0.05 also showed that use of mobile phone technology positively impacted the delivery of healthcare services. METHODS The target population were patients visiting Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic in Kibera informal settlements. A cross-sectional study design was employed. Purposive and simple random sampling method was used to select the study sample of 210 participants and 3 healthcare providers. Data were collected using survey questionnaire that was provider-administered and Data were analyzed using SPSS version. RESULTS The characteristics of the respondents were general (mean age, education level, social economic status) to only patients who visited the clinics for HIV tests and other related services such as going for ARVs. The main findings showed that 66.12% of the respondents (14.29% strongly agreed + 55.24% agreed) that the use of mobile phone technology improved their access to healthcare services. Using chi square, there was a statistical difference due to the positive impact of mobile technology on healthcare delivery (p=0.05). CONCLUSIONS The study findings showed that 66.12% of the respondents agreed that the use of mobile phone technology and SMS improved their access to healthcare services. The results hypothesis also proved that use of mobile phone technology positively impacts the delivery of healthcare services.