Optimizing health care delivery by adapting diagnostics in a low-resource setting: The case of San Miguel Hospital, Sucumbios, Ecuador.

ABSTRACT:

Background

To strategically optimize diagnostic capacity in a low-resource, rural hospital setting, we developed a systematic evaluation of diagnostic tool needs and associated costs. This local data-driven method, accounting for patient characteristics and disease prevalence, can be adapted to other contexts.

Methods

A retrospective patient record analysis was conducted at San Miguel Hospital (SMH) in Sucumbíos, Ecuador, which provides outpatient and emergency care to inhabitants of the Ecuadorian and Colombian Amazon basin. Ethics approval was granted retrospectively by the Research Ethics Committee on Human Beings of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.Data was retrieved from electronic medical records (EMRs) of the first 796 patients seen after hospital opening. For e

SUBMITTER: van Keizerswaard WJC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12856848 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature