Health information systems in Indonesia: Understanding and addressing complexity

Abstract

The article is addressing the problem posed by fragmented and poorly coordinated Health Information Systems (HIS) in developing countries within the framework of complexity. HISs that can provide quality data for monitoring, management and health services provision are important for countries, which requires a sensitive understanding of complexity and how they can be managed. Using a case from Indonesia, we discuss the challenges of integrating HIS using the concept of attractor for change from the field of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). The dashboard is positioned as such an attractor as a means to get different stakeholders to discuss and reach a consensus on how to integrate and share data without disturbing the underlying systems too much. A more generic model to manage complexity is proposed.