Performance Evaluation for Electronic Health Information Systems in Uganda

Developing countries have continued to invest heavily in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the health sector to improve health service delivery. However, despite the huge investments in Electronic Health Information Systems (EHIS), it has been difficult to measure the impact and benefits of the use of ICT in the health sector because many of these EHIS are not evaluated. This study assesses the state of performance evaluation of EHIS in developing countries, using Uganda as a case study. In Uganda, a survey was conducted in 15 districts, with 180 respondents distributed across 8 EHIS initiatives. Structured questions and interview guides were used to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Descriptive statistics were obtained using Stata 15.0 software and thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The results showed that 85% of the respondents evaluated their EHIS but only 25% had standard guidelines in form of clear-cut methods or mechanisms to conduct the evaluation. About 44% said that the main reason for the evaluation was to ensure data quality. Due to the lack of standard evaluation guidelines, the overall success of these EHIS projects, despite the millions of dollars invested was uncertain. Therefore, there is a need to develop a structured procedure and guidelines for evaluating the performance of eHealth implementations in Uganda.