Telemedicine Frameworks for Democratising Specialists Healthcare Access in Nigeria and related economies: A Review of Hub-and-Spoke Operational Models

Auteurs-es

  • Efosa Oghagbon Department of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, MOA University (formerly Benue State University), Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. , Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria
  • Enoga Ben-Ameh Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.12856/JHIA-2026-v13-i2-748

Résumé

Background: Healthcare disparities in Nigeria is affected by many factors including severe shortage of specialist physicians. While the traditional direct-to-patient digital platforms often fail due to structural barriers, provider-to-provider hub-and-spoke telemetry architectures present a promising approach. This investigation looked physicians’ deployment, diagnostic fidelity, and operational challenges of hub-and-spoke telemedicine networks across insecure and under-resourced territories in Nigeria and comparable regions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: A narrative systematic review used screened medical databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, African Journals OnLine, and Google Scholar) for peer-reviewed studies published up to 2026. Eligible papers investigated hub-and-spoke frameworks linking centralized tertiary centers to peripheral outposts. Data extraction focused on diagnostic concordance rates, referral mitigation dynamics, and structural limitations within fragile settings.

Results: Analyses showed that provider-to-provider teleconsultation achieves high clinical safety. Overall diagnostic concordance rates between spoke personnel and hub specialists range from 76.4% to 91.5%. The model averted unnecessary physical patient transport in 70% to 82% of specialist consultations, thus minimised patient exposure to hazardous environments. Systemic power failures, high data costs, and lack of formalised sub-regional telehealth legislation threatens long-term sustainability.

Discussion: A paradigm shift can be achieved by embedding digital health assets into institutional provider-to-provider networks and thus circumvents digital literacy gaps that disrupt consumer-facing apps. This will benefit from decentralized, solar-powered system linkage to this model to function as a real-time clinical mentorship model. Ultimately, the narrative consensus is that hub-and-spoke telemedicine model is a structurally sound, highly resilient mechanism for democratizing specialised clinical services across under-resourced regions

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Biographies de l'auteur-e

  • Efosa Oghagbon, Department of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, MOA University (formerly Benue State University), Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria., Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

    Professor Efosa Kenneth Oghagbon is a specialist chemical Pathologist with keen interest in metabolic medicine including inflammatory markers, and health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. He holds the MBBS degree and FMCPath from Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Science at University of Greenwich, London, UK. Efosa is also a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science, UK. Presently, he is the Deputy Provost, College of Health Sciences, Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu University (formerly Benue State University), Makurdi, Nigeria and Chief Consultant in Chemical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria

  • Enoga Ben-Ameh, Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

    Enoga Ijachi Ben-Ameh is Resident Doctor, Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Medicine at the Benue state university Teaching Hospital, Makurdi). She is actively involved in clinical laboratory medicine, patient care, medical education, and research.

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Publié

2026-10-05

Numéro

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2026)

Rubrique

Article de Recherche

Comment citer

[1]
Oghagbon, E. et Ben-Ameh, E. 2026. Telemedicine Frameworks for Democratising Specialists Healthcare Access in Nigeria and related economies: A Review of Hub-and-Spoke Operational Models. Journal of Health Informatics in Africa. 13, 2 (oct. 2026), 41–49. DOI:https://doi.org/10.12856/JHIA-2026-v13-i2-748.