Designing an information technology system in public health: observations from India

Introduction The use of information technology in healthcare has seen varying success across states, due to differing institutional capacities. Despite isolated successes and partial gains, public health information technology systems in the country are unable to support integrated decision making at either district or state levels. An emphasis on technological advancements without significant attention to systems design has limited the potential gains from applications of information technology. This paper is an effort to describe the level of public health information technology systems development over the eleventh plan period and examine the architectural constraints that constitute a common problem across systems.