Effect of implementing digital adherence technologies on the use of health care providers’ time and the human resource cost of tuberculosis treatment adherence support in Ethiopia
Authors: Belachew Mahilet , Sahile Mamush , Gadissa Demekech , Abdurhman Tofik , Bedru Ahmed , McQuaid Christopher Finn , van Rest Job , van Kalmthout Kristian , Jerene Degu , Fielding Katherine L , Tadesse Amare W , Foster Nicola 
Published: March 2024

Background

The management of human resources for health is a key priority for resource constrained health systems. Digital adherence technologies (DATs) for treatment support offer an opportunity to reorganise existing healthcare worker workload. Historically, tuberculosis treatment services involved directly observed treatment with frequent patient visits to the clinic for treatment adherence support. More recently, digital technologies have offered an option for the digital monitoring of treatment adherence and remote support. The aim of this study was to determine how health care workers use their time following the implementation of digital adherence support, and the human resource cost of tuberculosis treatment adherence support.

Methods

As part of the ASCENT three-arm cluster randomised trial of DATs for tuberculosis treatment support, we conducted time-and-motion studies in 15 of 78 ASCENT-trial health facilities for six-weeks. Healthcare workers recorded time spent on direct patient care and in-person adherence monitoring for 10 patients, as well as time spent on above-service activities. Total time use was calculated by multiplying time spent per visit by number of patient visits at the facility for six weeks and adding above-service time. In a facility-level analysis, we used negative binomial regression models to investigate associations between total time use and facility-level factors.

Findings

HCWs spent 4% (126/2892) of time in minutes on in-person adherence monitoring in the Labels, compared to 7% (206/3126) in the Pillbox and 13% (587/4673) in the standard-of-care study arms. More time was spent on above-service activities in the standard-of-care (2360 minutes [SD:1951]) compared to the DAT arms (Pillbox: 2057min [SD:1570]; Labels: 2261min [SD:1360]). After adjusting for facility workload and number of people lost-to-follow-up, we did not find sufficient evidence of a difference in the human resource costs between the study arms (Labels IRR (95%CI): 0.71 (0.33; 1.52); Pillbox (95% CI) 0.71 (0.33; 1.52)).

Conclusion

We found a small, although not statistically significant reduction, in human resource costs in the facilities where DATs were implemented. We observed changes in how healthcare workers spent their time, including a shift towards fewer health facility visits but more time spent on in-person adherence support. Further work is ongoing to assess the implications for the cost-effectiveness of the interventions.

Author summary

Digital adherence technologies (DATs) can be used to support patients taking tuberculosis treatment by monitoring how often and when they take their medication. Healthcare workers can then access this record electronically and provide additional support to patients if it is found that they are not taking their medication. We compared the tasks that health care workers do between health facilities using digital adherence technologies and those without. We found that patients made fewer visits to health care facilities using DATs than the standard of care - but when they did attend, they spent more time per visit speaking with health care workers than those without DATs. Healthcare workers similarly spent more time on adherence support in the facilities with DATs but less time on tuberculosis care overall because of each patient having fewer visits.