Outpatient Care and Telehealth for Healthcare Transformation in Nigeria: A Narrative Review of Health Informatics Challenges and Opportunities

Nigeria’s healthcare system is undergoing a gradual transformation toward outpatient and digitally enabled models of care, with telehealth and health informatics increasingly recognized as important components of healthcare delivery. This narrative review synthesized evidence on the development of outpatient care and telehealth in Nigeria, focusing on health informatics enablers, implementation barriers, documented outcomes, and future opportunities. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for publications from January 2019 to December 2025, supplemented by reference-list screening and relevant policy documents, government reports, and grey literature. A total of 68 publications were included and thematically synthesized. The reviewed evidence indicates increasing adoption of telehealth, teleconsultation, and mHealth interventions, with reported benefits including improved geographical access, reduced travel and time burdens, enhanced patient satisfaction, and support for continuity of care, particularly among underserved populations. However, sustainable implementation remains constrained by unreliable electricity and internet connectivity, fragmented electronic health record systems, limited interoperability, inadequate digital infrastructure, shortages of skilled health informatics personnel, limited digital literacy, regulatory uncertainties, and persistent digital inequities. Important evidence gaps remain regarding long-term sustainability, economic evaluation, patient-centered outcomes, and integration of telehealth with electronic health records and clinical decision support systems. Strengthening Nigeria’s digital healthcare ecosystem will require coordinated investment in health information infrastructure, workforce development, regulatory frameworks, interoperability, and equitable access to digital technologies. Future research should emphasize implementation science, longitudinal evaluation, economic assessment, and patient-centered approaches to guide sustainable scale-up of outpatient and telehealth services.