ArticleBMC health services research2025
Willingness to pay for digital care for NCD in Ghana: an exploratory study of three health facilities in Ghana.
Article in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
backgroundHypertension and diabetes are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Ghana. The use of digital healthcare applications improves access to NCD care by empowering patients to self-manage with remote support where possible and face-to-face support where needed in a hospital or clinic setting. Events from the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that digitisation can effectively be implemented in many productive sectors including healthcare. This study investigates the willingness to pay for a digital NCD care model piloted in three healthcare facilities in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.
methodsThis is a case-control study conducted in three health facilities in the Greater Accra region of Ghana namely the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH) and 37 Military Hospital, where a digital remote system (DRS) for the care of non-communicable diseases is being piloted. Five hundred and eighty (580) Hypertension (HPT) and Diabetes (DM) patients were recruited into the study and further divided into case (users) and control (non-users) groups. Contingent Valuation technique was applied to elicit patients' willingness to pay for the DRS App as well as the factors that influence willingness to pay. Data was analysed using Stata version 17.
resultsOut of the 580 patients enrolled in the study, 279 (48%) and 301 (52%) constituted the case and control groups respectively; 207 (36%) of the respondents were from GARH, 235 (41%) from UGMC and 138 (24%) from the 37 Military Hospital. Also, 272 (47%) were hypertensive only, 39 (16%) were diabetic only and 215 (37%) were both hypertensive and diabetic. Approximately 89% of all sampled patients were willing to pay for the use of the DRS for NCD care with mean WTP of GHS 43.95, but this was higher in the case group (93%) with mean WTP of GH¢46.80. Additionally, WTP was higher among males; 41-50 years age group; highly educated participants (i.e., at least a bachelor's degree); those above the upper poverty line; married, and currently employed. Moreover, being in the control group was associated with a lower WTP, an indication that current users of the App have a higher WTP compared with non-users.
conclusionThe study reveals a very high WTP for digital innovation in the treatment and management of hypertension and diabetes in Ghana. Given that Ghana's health system is underfunded, implementation of such digital innovations in delivering healthcare has the potential to enhance efficiency and improve healthcare outcomes. The study's overwhelming evidence of patients' WTP for digital innovations signals an opportunity for formulating public health policy regarding the scalability of the DRS platform.
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