A standard electronic health record (EHR) and interoperable national health information infrastructure require the use of uniform health information standards, including a common medical language. Data must be collected and maintained in a standardized format, using uniform definitions, in order to link data within an EHR system or share health information between systems. The lack of standards...

background systems thinking (st) has recently been promoted as an important approach to health systems strengthening. however, st is not common practice, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (lmics). this paper seeks to explore the barriers that may hinder its application in the eastern mediterranean region (emr) and possible strategies to mitigate them.   methods a survey consistin...

conclusions: the results of the present research indicates that the emphasis of the his evaluation moves from technical subjects to human and organizational subjects, and from objective to subjective issues. therefore, this issue entails more familiarity with more qualitative evaluation methods. in most of the reviewed studies, the main focus has been laid on the necessity of using multi-method...

Electronic health records and health information exchanges are necessary components of the information infrastructure to support a reformed health care system. However, they are not sufficient by themselves. Merely summing data from electronic health records together will not provide a comprehensive picture of the population, which is essential for tracking disease trends and treatment outcomes...

Threats to health from climate change are increasingly recognized, yet little research into the effects upon health systems is published. However, additional demands on health systems are increasingly documented. Pathways include direct weather impacts, such as amplified heat stress, and altered ecological relationships, including alterations to the distribution and activity of pathogens and ve...