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Call for papers: Special edition on digitalization of health information systems

Background and rationale

A robust health information system (HIS) is the backbone of a well-functioning healthcare system. HIS is essential for providing timely and quality data to inform national, sub-national, and facility-level decision-making. At the global level, data from HIS is key for monitoring progress towards Universal Health Coverage, Sustainable Development Goals and World Health Organization's General Programme of Work.

Recent developments in HIS provide opportunities which, if leveraged, can contribute to increasing the efficiency, safety, and quality of healthcare delivery as well as reducing inequalities in access to services and health outcomes. These opportunities include the implementation of electronic systems that capture data at individual, health system and population levels; implementation of electronic medical records; availability of health insurance claims data; the potential to link clinical and service utilization data with other data sources; and linking hospital information systems with clinical guidelines and clinical decision support tools.

Objectives of the special edition

1. Document progress, review experiences, and share lessons learned by countries and partners in digitalizing HIS.
2. Document findings from research on digitalization of healthcare from different countries and research settings.
3. Highlight specific areas such as the often-neglected aspects of the institutional changes required to digitalize HIS and to respond to possible controversies.

Manuscripts should explore:

1. Countries' experiences in strengthening HIS: challenges, successes and lessons learned
2. Developing sustainable HIS that can survive changing funding priorities
3. Institutional changes needed to digitalize data, e.g. capacity building
4. Going beyond data warehouses and dashboards: transforming data into information and evidence that can be used to inform decision-making and create an information culture
5. The holy grail: is digitalization the solution to all problems affecting HIS?
6. Contributions and limitations of HIS digitalization for improving health outcomes
7. Any other aspects relevant to HIS.

Submission information

Manuscripts can be submitted in Arabic, English or French in the form of original research articles, short research communication, commentaries, reviews, and reports. Interested authors should submit their manuscripts through the Editorial Manager at: https://www.editorialmanager.com/emhj/default.aspx. 

Manuscripts must comply with the "Information for authors" available at: https://www.emro.who.int/emh-journal/authors/. 

Deadline for manuscript submissions is 31 December 2024.