Holistic View on Information Systems as Logistic in Health Sector

Abstract

Background: In the data-rich and data-sensitive environment, health information systems (HIS) have been used for decision-making by providing reliable data. The current study aims to have a holistic view on the logistic role of IS in health sector. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct were searched by keywords including "information system AND health AND data", "health information system AND challenges AND network", health information system OR clinical information system AND quality of services". 547 scientific studies from 2010 onwards were selected. At first, based on papers' relevance to the aim of this study, titles and abstracts of publications were studied. 259 studies were filtered out. Then, through analyzing the full texts based on inclusion criteria, authors selected 106 papers. Finally, contents were extracted and categorized. Results: Due to the impact of IS on quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of services, as well as patients' safety, various types of ISs are used at different levels of the health system. They are classified based on different criteria including generality, level of the health system, managerial level, complexity, and integrity. According to IS components, non-standardized data, weak human resources capacity, incompatibility with work procedures, fragmentation of subsystems, cyber security threats, and insufficient informatics infrastructure were the main challenges. Conclusion: IS in health play a logistic role in systematic data management and circulation of reliable information. A systematic and integrated view is needed to conquer the organizational and systemic challenges.