ArticleBMC medical informatics and decision making2021
One country's journey to interoperability: Tanzania's experience developing and implementing a national health information exchange.
Article in BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Architectural patterns for health information systems: a systematic review.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Pooled it
- Factors associated with digital tools use among primary healthcare professionals in Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study of the minimal digital ecosystem.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Towards a nomenclature of health services for implementing universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries.Communications medicine · 2026Article
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- Developing a National eHealth Enterprise Architecture in Botswana: a digital health case study.Oxford open digital health · 2026Article
- Formal and informal digital health in Tanzania: healthcare workforce, regulatory and trust implications of e-patients and virtual care and the development of the TRUST framework.Frontiers in health services · 2026Review
- Connecting biospecimens and data: a scoping review-informed conceptual framework for digital infrastructure in biobanking and genomic research in low- and middle-income countries.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Developing community-based surveillance systems for vaccine-preventable diseases: lessons learned from Indonesia.Global health action · 2025Article
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- Data Interoperability in Context: The Importance of Open-Source Implementations When Choosing Open Standards.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Strengthening digital health local capacity: driving forces and milestones in Ethiopia.Oxford open digital health · 2025Article
- Experiences, Lessons, and Challenges With Adapting REDCap for COVID-19 Laboratory Data Management in a Resource-Limited Country: Descriptive Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Crossing the digital divide: the workload of manual data entry and integration between mobile health applications and eHealth infrastructure.Oxford open digital health · 2024Article
- Digital Health Convergence Workshop: The Kenyan experience.Oxford open digital health · 2024Article
- A multi-phase approach for developing a conceptual model for human resources for health observatory (HRHO) toward integrating data and evidence: a case study of Iran.Health research policy and systems · 2023Review
- Validation of an Interoperability Framework for Linking mHealth Apps to Electronic Record Systems in Botswana: Expert Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Assessment of Stakeholder Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Health Data Governance Principles in Botswana: Web-Based Survey.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Disparities of Health Program Information Systems in Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Indonesian Health Facility Research 2019.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Improvements in malaria surveillance through the electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (eIDSR) system in mainland Tanzania, 2013-2021.Malaria journal · 2022Article
- Information System as part of epidemic management in Burkina Faso: from plan to reality (Field Findings).BMC public health · 2022Review
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11 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundRobust, flexible, and integrated health information (HIS) systems are essential to achieving national and international goals in health and development. Such systems are still uncommon in most low and middle income countries. This article describes a first-phase activity in Tanzania to integrate the country's vertical health management information system with the help of an interoperability layer that enables cross-program data exchange.
methodsFrom 2014 to 2019, the Tanzanian government and partners implemented a five-step procedure based on the "Mind the GAPS" (governance, architecture, program management, and standards) framework and using both proprietary and open-source tools. In collaboration with multiple stakeholders, the team developed the system to address major data challenges via four fully documented "use case scenarios" addressing data exchange among hospitals, between services and the supply chain, across digital data systems, and within the supply chain reporting system. This work included developing the architecture for health system data exchange, putting a middleware interoperability layer in place to facilitate the exchange, and training to support use of the system and the data it generates.
resultsTanzania successfully completed the five-step procedure for all four use cases. Data exchange is currently enabled among 15 separate information systems, and has resulted in improved data availability and significant time savings. The government has adopted the health information exchange within the national strategy for health care information, and the system is being operated and managed by Tanzanian officials.
conclusionDeveloping an integrated HIS requires a significant time investment; but ultimately benefit both programs and patients. Tanzania's experience may interest countries that are developing their HIS programs.
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