DIGITAL HEALTH

Health systems in low- and middle-income countries are often fragmented, lack resources -- including enough trained health workers to deliver services —, and are reliant on paper-based records for data and decision making. Digital health has the potential to catalyze and accelerate public health goals in these settings by transforming data systems, making it easier to deliver health services directly to patients, and substantially support health workers and managers in their work.

However, adoption of digital health can be challenging in low-resource settings. Digital products are often ill-designed for these contexts, developers are disconnected from country needs, and there is limited capacity to manage, maintain, and continue to sustain digital platforms.

On the demand side, we drive implementation of digital tools and information systems for national scale. Our teams work closely with governments and end users to ensure the selection of appropriate technology to meet their needs, supporting strong planning and coordination throughout development and implementation, and enabling a governance and financing foundation for long-term use. We help governments sustainably roll out technology and drive its usage and institutionalization through change management processes to enable progressive gains in data quality, access, and use, with the ultimate goal of transitioning support and maintenance of digital solutions to ministries of health and local partners.

To date, CHAI has helped develop and improve multiple digital health platforms, including DHIS2, DHIS2 Android application, OpenLMIS, OpenSRP, and the GeoPrism Registry, and driven their uptake in over 20 countries.