Barriers & challenges to the adoption of E-Health standards in Africa

Abstract

Although standardization is seen as the key to ensuring interoperability of healthcare information systems, the large numbers of standards available can make the selection decision difficult especially for a developing nation. This paper reports on a study of ehealth standards development and the level of African countries’ participation in the development process. We explored the factors that restrict the adoption of e-health standards by African countries and provide ways of overcoming the barriers.