Digital Infrastructure Development in Healthcare Systems
Summary
Digital infrastructure in healthcare encompasses the integrated hardware, software, networks and governance frameworks that enable the collection, storage, analysis and exchange of clinical and administrative data. Over the past decade, efforts have concentrated on enhancing interoperability between disparate electronic health record systems, deploying cloud-based platforms, and embedding advanced analytics and artificial intelligence into routine workflows. Secure, standardised data exchanges are seen as essential to improve care coordination, patient safety and population-level health monitoring. At the same time, emerging models emphasise co-creation with frontline users to ensure solutions are contextually appropriate and scalable, particularly in resource-constrained environments. Globally, policymakers and providers are balancing national standardisation with local adaptability, striving for infrastructures that can evolve alongside technological innovation and shifting care paradigms.
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Digital Infrastructure Development in Healthcare Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in digital infrastructure development in healthcare systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Digital infrastructure: A coordinated assemblage of information and communication technologies, data repositories and governance structures that supports healthcare delivery, analytics and interoperability.
Interoperability: The ability of information systems and software applications to exchange, interpret and use data coherently across organisational and technical boundaries.
Living lab: A real-world environment in which users and developers collaboratively design, test and refine digital innovations through iterative cycles of feedback and improvement.
Information trajectory: The historical, present and future development path of an ICT portfolio or system, shaped by stakeholder decisions, technical architectures and institutional contexts.
Health information system: A networked application or suite of applications used to collect, manage, report and analyse health data to support clinical care, administration and policymaking.
References
- “A living lab within a lab”: approaches and challenges for scaling digital public health in resource-constrained settings. Frontiers in Public Health (2023).
- The Tension between National and Local Concerns in Preparing for Large-Scale Generic Systems in Healthcare. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) (2022).
- Evolution of Information Infrastructures in Healthcare as Convergence of Digital Trajectories. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) (2024).
- Developing health information systems in developing countries: Lessons learnt from a longitudinal action research study in Vietnam. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries (2023).
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