An increasing number of organisations around the world are making use of information and communications technology (ICT) for health (eHealth) to address healthcare challenges. This includes aggregating vast amounts of data from various sources to create evidence for policy and decision making. However, the eHealth initiative in South Africa is hindered by unreliable ICT platforms. This research study is designed to leverage eHealth and propose a conceptual cloud computing model to improve healthcare service delivery. The aim of this research study is to instigate new collaborative efforts for the creation of evidence value-based healthcare system. The findings attest that the sensitive nature of clinical data remains a challenge. Similarly, the South African government should resolve concerns on regulatory frameworks for proper governance of eHealth standards implementation, whilst accelerating healthcare improvements within the public health sector in particular.

Abstract. The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for health (eHealth) has become more pervasive than ever, globally. In South Africa, the eHealth initiatives may be hampered by persistent reliance on traditional, disparate and unreliable ICT platforms. This includes the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) initiative to provide universal healthcare supported by eHealth. This research study was undertaken to leverage eHealth and propose a conceptual cloud computing model to form the basis of improving healthcare service delivery. The aim of this research study was to describe the challenges and solutions associated with enabling cloud computing ecosystems within the South African healthcare environment. The findings attest that the Health Information System (HIS) is not meeting the requirements to strengthen healthcare system effectiveness. A key concern is a lack of well-coordinated regulatory frameworks for proper governance of eHealth standards implementation.