Global Digital Health Resources and Maturity Models: A Summary

Author(s): MEASURE Evaluation

Year: 2018

Abstract:

Recently, the importance of maturity model-based digital health assessment tools has grown. These tools are useful to establish a systematic basis of measurement to (1) describe current maturity level of digital health systems in terms of human resources, business processes, technology, and organizational capabilities; (2) facilitate users’ ability to set goals for future levels of maturity; and (3) inform the development of improvement plans to realize the next maturity level toward a stronger digital health system. for a country to meet its public health targets.

Maturity models typically consist of several (three to six) stages of maturity that characterize an improvement process and encompass a broad collection of organizational activities and structures. They often provide abstract descriptions of maturity levels and broad assessment criteria for a range of users. A multidimensional maturity model focuses on people, processes, technology, and organizational capabilities. The elements defined in the model can help carry out assessments of existing digital health capabilities. This knowledge can help an organization understand where it is on the path and where to go next. This information can help an organization visualize the future workforce, business processes, and technology capability requirements. It can offer a holistic view of how an organization can plan, develop, use, and organize its information and digital systems to achieve a higher level of maturity while building on its strengths and addressing weaknesses.

As maturity models based on digital health assessment tools proliferate, users of these tools need help to understand when and how to use these tools. To address this question, MEASURE Evaluation, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), worked with digital health practitioners from the Digital Health and Interoperability Technical Working Group of the Health Data Collaborative, the World Health Organization, the USAID-funded Maternal and Child Survival and Digital Square projects, and Health Enabled to summarize the purpose, methods, and intended use of six of the key global digital health resources and maturity models.

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