Health Informatics

Author(s): MEASURE Evaluation

Year: 2016

Abstract:

Quality data are essential in public health settings to facilitate good decisions on policy and service provision and to track health trends and the effectiveness of interventions. Health informatics (HI), sometimes called "digital health," "eHealth," or "mHealth," is a health information system empowered and amplified by technology. MEASURE Evaluation is the U.S. Agency for International Development’s primary mechanism for strengthening health information systems and is contributing thought leadership and support for the implementation of HI. We focus on overcoming challenges to developing strong national health information systems and help to create the enabling environment so such systems can develop. We also are helping countries to establish program-specific systems, such as for malaria, especially where a full HI system is not yet possible but where the need for subsets of data is critical.