JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of global health systems. However, the pandemic is perceived to have boosted the use of technology and accelerated digital health solutions (DHS). In Latin America, DHS have the potential to increase the accessibility and efficiency of healthcare services. Various key players have relevant roles to innovate within the healthcare systems. For this study, we focused on healthtech start-ups (developers) and healthcare providers (implementers) who can co-create and develop new healthcare solutions.

Objective:

This research aims to explore challenges and opportunities to boost innovation in the healthcare ecosystem in Latin America, based on the five key aspects of the Innovation Readiness Levels (IRL): market, technology, organization, partnership, and risk.

Methods:

For this research, a qualitative study was conducted using the five key aspects of innovation. Two types of organizations were selected: healthtech start-ups (developers) and healthcare providers (implementers). Twelve professionals from Latin America were interviewed. For each interview, quotes related to the five aspects were selected and subclustered to find relationships using the Grounded Theory Methodology.

Results:

As a result of this research, we identified seven enablers specific to the health sector in Latin America. These seven enablers are related to the five aspects of innovation. For instance, building together the future of healthcare belongs to partnership. Exploring disruptive ways to deliver and capture value, managing change with agility, and leveraging knowledge generation by sharing, are part of the organization aspect. Considering the entire care value chain and proactive care beyond hospital facilities are linked to the market aspect. Then, understanding the context to ease technological adoption belongs to two aspects, market and technology. Finally, for risk there are no enablers assigned; however, we identified risks and challenges for each enabler identified.

Conclusions:

The current pandemic is perceived to have accelerated digital solutions in healthcare. We suggest taking advantage of the emerging initiatives mainly led by healthtech startups and the momentum gained as a result of the pandemic. To boost the use of digital health solutions in Latin America, it is necessary to collaborate with an ecosystemic approach, design new solutions for the entire care value chain, understand the context where the solutions will be used, guide the adoption of digital solutions, and innovate on preventive care. Latin America is ready to innovate in healthcare; we suggest considering these enablers to support digital transformation.