Planning for national health information system evaluation

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Public Health Policy
• Information Systems Evaluation

Background:

• Many EU member states possess documented eHealth policies.
• However, policies for follow-up, evaluation, and outcome assessment of national eHealth systems are infrequent.
• Established methodologies for large-scale information system assessment and evaluation are lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the scarcity of national eHealth evaluation policies and methodologies.
• To examine core issues and challenges in large-scale eHealth system evaluation.
• To refine evaluation methodologies and foster international collaboration in national eHealth initiatives.

Main Methods:

• A workshop was conducted utilizing Finland's National Health Information System (NHIS) evaluation plans as a case study.
• Discussions focused on critical aspects of large-scale evaluation for system development, implementation, and impact.
• The workshop aimed to reflect on and document key issues and challenges.

Main Results:

• Identified significant gaps in documented follow-up and evaluation policies across EU member states.
• Highlighted the underdeveloped nature of methodologies for large-scale health information system assessment.
• Finnish NHIS evaluation plans provided a practical framework for discussing evaluation challenges.

Conclusions:

• There is a critical need for developing robust evaluation methodologies for national eHealth systems.
• International collaboration and knowledge sharing are essential for advancing eHealth evaluation practices.
• The findings will inform the refinement of Finnish evaluation methodologies and benefit global eHealth policy makers, developers, and researchers.