Data interoperability assessment model for health information system in South African public healthcare

Background and Aim of Study: The increasing use of information technologies in healthcare has enhanced communication between its stakeholders and has also reduced health cost. As a result, data interoperability has become a priority which has increased the need to assess whether health information systems (HIS) used are interoperable enough to support this call. The aim of the study: to assess the data interoperability of the HIS used in the South African public healthcare. Material and Methods: Based on the conceptual model with the constructs of core, policy, societal, engagement as well as acceptance and use readiness and parameters of functional, syntactic and semantic interoperability, a measuring instrument in the form of closed-ended questionnaire was designed. Statistical data was collected from Information Technology personnel in three district hospitals of Gauteng Province in South Africa. Results: Hypotheses 1, 3 5, 6a and 6c predicted the influence of core readiness, societal readiness, use readiness functional interoperability and semantic interoperability on HIS data interoperability readiness respectively and were all accepted. Hypothesis 2, 4 6b predicted the influence of policy readiness, engagement readiness and syntactic interoperability on HIS data interoperability readiness and were all rejected. Conclusions: The developed model can be used to enhance research on data interoperability that is a major challenge in the use of information technology in healthcare. The sharing of information among different levels of medical personnel is essential for healthcare quality, efficiency, and safety of care provided to a patient. To enable this, systems should be able to connect and exchange information with each other without limitation. Such also enables better workflows, reduce ambiguity, and allows data transfer among systems and healthcare stakeholders.