Designing Interoperable his for Maternal and Child Health Tracking Across Informal Health Providers

Abstract

Informal care providers are critical in providing maternal and child health (MCH) services, especially in underserved populations in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Nonetheless, these providers are often left out in the national Health Information Systems (HIS), fragmenting data, a lack of coordination in the health systems, and underrepresenting important health indicators. This conceptual review addresses the design of an interoperable HIS incorporating informal health providers to ensure greater tracking and outcomes for MCH. The paper resorts to digital health, health systems strengthening, and informatics literature to establish major inclusion barriers, including digital illiteracy, poor infrastructure and mistrust towards institutions. A stakeholder-based conceptual approach should comprise the following components: data gathering and verification, integration pathways, governance procedures, and community involvement. That model is supported by socio-technical systems theory, which highlights human, technological, and organisational interactions in systems design and adoption. Such interoperability standards as HL7, FHIR, and OpenHIE are among the key enablers of data exchange inside the formal and informal systems. The review shows that integrating digital health policies to be inclusive, designing technology on a human scale, and investing in coordination are needed to experience interoperable, equitable HIS within LMIC scenarios. Policymakers, NGOs, and developers can use the practical implications to make sustainable improvements in the visibility of health data, improve the health system's performance, and health equity. This research offers a practice-informed and theoretically based research model advancing an inclusive digital health infrastructure of maternal and child health.