Bridging the Health Gap: Can Technology Deliver Fair Care?

Abstract

In the modern world, technological innovation has changed how healthcare systems operate, and it has provided new opportunities to make them more accessible, high-quality and efficient. The possibility of technology making healthcare fair, however, is a relevant and debatable issue. Equity is commonly defined as fairness that deals with health resources, services and outcomes that are distributed fairly irrespective of the socioeconomic status, geography, gender and ethnicity. This research paper delves into how digital health technologies, such as telemedicine and electronic health records, artificial intelligence, mobile health applications, and health information systems caused or minimized healthcare inequalities. Based on a method of global analytical framework and restriction to a particular country, Pakistan, the research assesses the impact of technological interventions in healthcare equity that has been offered to low- and middle-income countries. The research follows the mixed-method approach as, in the future, it is planned to include the primary data part of the study (that will be based in Pakistan) but supplemented by the vast amount of secondary literature. The results indicate that although technology can lead to fairer healthcare through offering greater access and efficiency, structural inequalities, digital divides, failures in governance, and unequal uptake of technology tend to constrain its reasonable nature. The paper arrives at the finding that technology cannot bring about equity in healthcare unless set with making inclusive policies, ethical governance, and implementation strategies relevant to the context.