Leveraging artificial intelligence to improve health insurance access and address disparities in rural Africa

Abstract

Urban-rural inequalities in access to healthcare services remain a significant obstacle to development in Africa. Rural communities are more affected by the poor state of the African healthcare system, They lack essential healthcare facilities, have a shortage of healthcare workforce, inadequate transportation facilities that keep them isolated, and high out-of-pocket healthcare costs which put them at risk of the catastrophic effect of healthcare expenditure. Several health insurance schemes have been designed in an attempt to meet the SDG 3.8 goal of universal health coverage and access to quality, safe, effective, and affordable health care in rural communities. However, despite these efforts, there are still significant challenges with access and utilization of these insurance schemes. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been integrated into different areas of healthcare including medical imaging and diagnosis, surgery, and so on, and has improved health outcomes significantly. If adequately leveraged, AI can be useful in risk assessment and in automating claim process, thereby improving accessibility and utilization of health insurance in rural communities. It can also be used in protecting resources for rural healthcare by detecting fraud, thereby increasing the trust of the community in the insurer. Integration of AI into healthcare services can be very useful in improve health insurance access and reducing health disparities in rural communities thus aiding in the fulfilment of universal health coverage.