Enterprise architecture requirements for standardising digital health in Uganda’s health system

Abstract

Objective: This research aimed to develop and validate enterprise architecture (EA) requirements to standardise digital health (DH) in Uganda’s health system. These requirements were generated from DH challenges identified in an earlier prerequisite empirical study that was conducted to explore the feasibility of contextualising existing international DH standards to improve data use in Uganda’s health system. Methods: The study followed a cross-sectional research design, with the HIV/AIDS and TB disease model as a case study. A walkthrough approach was adopted to validate the derived requirements using purposively selected participants at national and sub-national levels of Uganda’s healthcare system. Questionnaires (Google forms) were used to collect validation responses, while quantitative data was analysed using MS Excel. Results: The results show that the respondents agreed with the DH EA requirements for standardising Uganda’s health system. The results represent views from 65.67% of the expected participants drawn from all Uganda’s DH stakeholders. Although a few respondents (3.3%) did not agree, most (96.7%) agreed with the requirements as-is. Therefore, the derived EA requirements are deemed suitable for standardising and strengthening Uganda’s DH system. Conclusion: Proper implementation of the EA requirements is expected to produce efficient, cost-effective, quality and safe digital health initiatives for Uganda.