Introduction: The availability of low-cost computing and digital telecommunication in the 1980s made telehealth practicable. Telehealth has the capacity to improve healthcare access and outcomes for patients while reducing healthcare costs across a wide range of health conditions and situations. Objective: This study compares the adoption, advantages, and challenges of telehealth services between high-income (HICs) and low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The key search terms were: “Telehealth”, “Telehealth in HICs”, “Telehealth in LMICs”, “Telehealth before COVID-19”, “Telehealth during COVID-19”. We searched exhaustively ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CINAHL, and EMBASE databases from 2012. Booleans OR/AND were combined with key search terms to increase relevant search results. The literature search and selection process followed the Sample, Phenomena of Interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research (SPIDER) question format. Results: The adoption of telehealth before COVID-19 was generally low in both HICs and LMICs. The impact of COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of telehealth at the facility level but not nationwide in both high-income countries and LMICs. The rapid adoption of telehealth at the facility level in both high-income and LMICs introduced several challenges that are unique to each country and need to be addressed. Conclusion: The lack of national policies and regulations is making the adoption of telehealth at the national level challenging in both high and low-middle-income countries. Governments and Stakeholders of healthcare must consider telehealth as a healthcare procedure that should be deployed in clinical working procedures. Primary quantitative and qualitative studies must be conducted to address challenges encountered during the pilot implementation of telehealth services in both high-income countries and LMICs before and during pandemics.

The coronavirus pandemic is the greatest crisis of our time, having claimed over 2 million lives and shocking the global economy. Scientists and governments have suggested the idea of a digital COVID-19 certificate, to identify vaccinated persons easily. This paper assesses the positions of stakeholders on COVID-19 vaccination certificates, their presentation, and their importance. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was applied in this study. Search terms with Boolean and/or operators were combined to increase relevant results. Four large digital databases were used for the search. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to screen 298 collated studies. Two reviewers independently assessed search results, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the included studies. It is essential to re-examine digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates, considering their benefits, such as real-time detection of fake vaccination certificates and identifying and mapping non-vaccinated areas for strategic vaccination planning. The use of a single electronic platform globally will ease verification processes while bringing economies back to their feet. Digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates may provide balance in this pandemic era. With digital COVID-19 certificate exceeding documentation purposes, it is important to recognise factors such as global economy and human rights, boosting free movements of persons.

Introduction: Stroke is a leading global contributor to mortality and disability. Low‐ and middle‐income countries are disproportionately affected and account for 87% of stroke‐related disabilities and 70% of stroke‐related fatalities. The challenges of stroke care accessibility in Africa are compounded by financial constraints, geographical barriers, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure, necessitating the adoption of innovative models such as telestroke. Telestroke is a critical component of modern stroke care systems. Telestroke enables real‐time remote assessments, optimizes patient triage and hospital transfers, improves the efficiency of thrombolysis administration, and enhances poststroke management by mitigating logistical and mobility‐related challenges. This demonstrates telestroke’s potential to expand access to specialized stroke care, improve functional outcomes, and address critical gaps in stroke management within underserved regions such as Africa. This paper assesses the advantageous impact of telestroke on stroke management, with the aim of drawing global insights for Africa. Methodology: This scoping review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted across ProQuest, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus to identify peer‐reviewed studies published in English from 2017 to 2023. This ensured the inclusion of the most recent advancements in telestroke research. Results: The initial literature search retrieved 881 articles, of which 143 duplicates (16.2%) and 58 non‐English studies (6.6%) were removed, followed by the exclusion of 451 nonpeer‐reviewed publications (51.2%) and 128 articles (14.5%) unrelated to the study area, leaving 101 studies (11.5%) for full‐text review. After further screening, 70 studies were excluded for not aligning with the study’s title, objectives, or key search terms. This resulted in 31 studies (3.5%) being included in the final analysis, with 21 studies originating from outside Africa. The limited availability of high‐indexed, peer‐reviewed African telestroke studies highlighted a research gap, impacting the generalizability of findings. Conclusion: Telestroke has demonstrated significant benefits in stroke management, including improved functional outcomes, reduced onset‐to‐treatment time, enhanced diagnostic accuracy, and increased healthcare accessibility, particularly in medically underserved regions. However, its implementation in Africa faces challenges related to ethical concerns, technological infrastructure, regulatory inconsistencies, financial sustainability, and limited clinician buy‐in. This necessitates strategic interventions such as standardized regulatory frameworks, network expansion, sustainable financing, capacity‐building, and the integration of cost‐effective imaging technologies to enhance stroke care delivery across the continent.

Few studies have assessed the impact of Electronic Health Record (EHR) on data quality and how it has impacted timeliness, accuracy, availability, integrity, consistency and uniqueness of health data. Assessing the current gaps between electronic health record utilisation in relation to enhancing data quality can help to identify and recommend key measures to improve healthcare delivery. This review examines the impact of electronic health record on data quality, and proposes recommendations desirable to improving healthcare delivery. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Integrative Review Frameworks (IRF) were adapted as a sign post for the study. These frameworks guided literature search, data analysis and presentation of findings. Boolean AND/OR operators were combined with search terms to increase relevant search results. Six (6) electronic databases that were used for literature search are Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest and Google Scholar. Searched articles were between 2012 to 2022, with the exception of two articles on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) published in 1986 and 1975. EHR implementation impact key health outcomes and contribute to timely and complete data submission. Implementation of Electronic Health Systems (EHS) embellish consistency, completeness, accuracy and integrity of clinical data significantly through embedded interoperability solutions. By reducing the scope of manual reviews, integrating a technology that automates data integrity and quality checks into EHR may potentially lessen the strain of maintaining data quality. Our findings depict that interoperability of clinical data sources will ensure consistent, timely and available health data when using EHR. The automated data integrity and consistency checks in the EHR improve data quality. The study contributes to advancing the theory of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in electronic health records and its impact on data quality in healthcare delivery.

The health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 have welcomed the introduction of technology into healthcare delivery, desalinating the accessibility to healthcare delivery. With the recent outbreak of the COVID-19, telehealth services have been the preferred means of service delivery to a wider population in settings where the physician-to-patient ratio is low. The study's objective is to investigate the principles, trends and challenges of using telehealth services for acute disease management in some hospitals within the Greater Accra region of Ghana. A cross-sectional, descriptive quantitative study was conducted among healthcare professionals across four government health facilities in the Greater Accra Region: Ada East District Hospital, Weija Gbawe Municipal Hospital, Oblogo Health Centre, and LEKMA Hospital. A structured questionnaire grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework was administered using a simple random sampling technique. A total of 439 participants, representing approximately 70% of the eligible population (n = 628), who actively use electronic health records systems, were recruited. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with STATA Version 15 and SPSS Version 23. In a cohort of 439 healthcare professionals surveyed, the majority fell within the 21-40 age range, and women made up nearly 60% of the participants. Most respondents held a bachelor's degree, with nurses, medical officers, and physician assistants forming the largest professional groups. Telehealth services were primarily used through phone calls, while fewer professionals used video conferencing or store-and-forward technologies. Overall, the frequency of telehealth service use was low, with many reporting that they used it rarely or only occasionally. The most common purpose for telehealth consultations was general care, followed by patient education and a smaller share for surgical consultations. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable model fit supporting the validity of the measurement framework. The study found that healthcare professionals' satisfaction with telehealth services was most strongly influenced by how useful they perceived it to be. Telehealth services that were easier to use not only increased user satisfaction but also enhanced the perceived value of the tools. Interestingly, those who perceived higher levels of risk still tended to find the systems useful, although their overall satisfaction was slightly lower. Changes within healthcare organizations also had mixed effects, lowering perceptions of usefulness in some cases but slightly improving satisfaction. These findings suggest that strengthening system support, infrastructure, and aligning telehealth tools with clinical tasks can significantly encourage adoption in settings with limited resources.

Introduction: Telehealth is revolutionizing healthcare, particularly in post-operative care accessibility. However, technological limitations, costs, and communication barriers hinder its full implementation. This study examines healthcare providers’ and patients’ perception on telehealth services adoption for post-operative follow-ups at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Ghana. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed to collect data involving 350 participants, (doctors (29), nurses (96), and patients (225)) at KBTH’s surgical department using the priori power calculation method. Participants were selected via purposive and convenience sampling. There was a pilot-tested electronic and paper questionnaire administered by trained research assistants. The instrument captured multidimensional perception indices (eg, clinical efficacy, convenience, economic burden) on validated Likert scales alongside socio-demographic and telehealth utilization covariates. Data were managed in REDCap with mandatory fields to minimize missing responses and anonymized identifiers to reduce bias. Analyses comprised descriptive statistics and proportions in IBM SPSS v26 and R v4.2.1. Results: A substantial 76.6% of stakeholders agree or strongly agree that telehealth reliably monitors minor postoperative conditions. Convenience and efficiency are paramount, with 82.9% of participants finding virtual follow-ups more convenient and 86.6% reporting significant time savings relative to in-person visits. Infection-control benefits are widely recognized (85.2%), and patient-provider rapport remains strong, with only 10.9% expressing discomfort. Major barriers include unstable broadband (83.4%), limited on-site technical support (66.0%), poor audiovisual quality (81.7%), and prohibitive data/device costs (61.4%). Key facilitators encompass robust security measures trusted by 73.8% of users, regulatory confidence (59.7%), perceived clinical equivalence (76.5%), and enhanced access for underserved populations (82.6%). Conclusion: Telehealth improves accessibility and efficiency in minor post-operative care. However, addressing technological barriers, insurance issues, and communication challenges is crucial. A hybrid approach integrating telehealth with in-person visits is recommended to enhance care quality and patient satisfaction.