Strategies for Standardizing Health Information Analysis
Purpose: This paper analyses an initiative led by WHO within the health information domain to standardise analysis of health information through the use of analytical dashboards, using the concept of flexible standards. We focus on the implementation of t
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bstract. Purpose: This paper analyses an initiative led by WHO within the health information domain to standardise analysis of health information through the use of analytical dashboards, using the concept of flexible standards. We focus on the implementation of these standards within existing, working information systems, analysing the implementation strategies used, and how these are enabled by the flexibility of the standards. Design/methodology/approach: The study follows an action research approach, where the authors have been involved in the development and implementation of the initiative being discussed. Findings: By analyzing the approaches taken by several countries to implement these standards we show how these different approaches are enabled by the flexibility of the standards. Practical implications: This paper demonstrates the potential importance of flexibility in standardisation initiatives around health information, with particular relevance to voluntary standardisation efforts involving independent actors, in this case Ministries of Health. Originality/value: The flexible standards concept is employed to study a multi-country initiative involving WHO and several national governments. We contribute to the literature on flexible standards by showing that beyond flexibility in the standards, flexibility in the software platform in which the standards are implemented, and the variation allowed in the standardisation process at an organisational level, are important factors that facilitate standards implementations. Keywords: Health information systems
Standards Information use
1 Introduction In a widely cited 2007 MISQ paper, Braa et al. [1] proposed the concept of flexible standards, arguing that use of such adaptable standards can be a strategy for development of integrated health information systems (HIS) in developing countries. Empirically, they use examples from three countries of bottom-up processes that lead to the emergence of health information standards. In this paper we use the flexible standards concept to understand a top-down initiative led by WHO within the same domain. The underlying problem that WHO seeks to address with this initiative is the lack of agreed data standards, overlapping and siloed data systems and poor data quality and © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2019 Published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 P. Nielsen and H. C. Kimaro (Eds.): ICT4D 2019, IFIP AICT 551, pp. 260–271, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18400-1_21
Strategies for Standardizing Health Information Analysis
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data use in many developing countries. One of the key roles of WHO as a normative organisation is to develop standards and guidance for its member states, including in the area of health information. However, a pervasive challenge has been the limited penetration and use of these standards by countries. Thus, while great strides have been made towards improving the capacity of HIS to collect data, the challenge remains that the relevant data is not
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