The Rockefeller Foundation, a charitable organization that works around the world to expand opportunities for poor or vulnerable people, was seeking a strategy for an e-health initiative. The Foundation called upon BCG to help improve the quality, equity, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare in the "Global South"—a term for developing countries. It would do this by using information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve and expand diagnostic, treatment, preventive, and monitoring capabilities, as well as user awareness and access.
The Challenge
The BCG team identified and defined clear objectives, which would be achieved by focusing on five key areas: 1) Evaluating e-health opportunities in the developing world; 2) Determining the potential value of e-health; 3) Assessing optimal timing for the broad initiative; 4) Evaluating the need for a guiding coalition, and 5) Defining potential roles in the coalition. Coordinated action was needed to address multiple e-health challenges. As infrastructure improves in the Global South, many e-health applications are springing up organically in the absence of any standards, leading to myriad of systems unable to share information with one another.
The Solution
BCG recommended specific ways that the Foundation could play a key coordinating role to serve as a leverage point for e-health by increasing donor involvement and catalyzing application development, and providing coalition leadership at the outset; direct roles and responsibilities will be scaled back as the coalition grows and matures. The Foundation could also focus on advocacy and convening functions, as well as key areas of program support.
The Result
In the end, BCG helped the Rockefeller Foundation to: assess the potential value of such an initiative; determine the readiness of individual countries; identify potential participants, roles, organization models, applications, and action agendas for an e-health initiative or coalition; and ultimately, develop a strategy through which the initiative's objectives would be met.
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