P.6. Skills building seminar: A comprehensive methodology for assessing health information system performance
Abstract
Well-functioning health information systems (HIS) are a prerequisite for well-functioning health systems and transparent, evidence-informed health policy, and strong data governance is increasingly important in the current age of rapid digitalization and AI development. Yet, dedicated HIS coordination mechanisms and strategies are largely absent in countries in the WHO European Region. The result of this is that while commonly large volumes of health data are being collected, these are not well-aligned with policy needs. An important reason for this is that HIS typically comprise many different stakeholders and activities, reflecting a historically grown landscape of dispersed data ownership and monitoring and reporting responsibilities. To help Member States get to grips with this complex landscape, WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed a methodology for comprehensively assessing HIS performance. The methodology helps stakeholders to get an understanding of the main strengths and weaknesses in the national HIS, allowing the identification of what needs to be improved to ensure that the HIS produces solid, timely and policy-relevant data and information, that is actually taken up in decision making processes. In this workshop, first participants will learn about WHO’s political mandate for joint work with the European Member States on HIS strengthening and the role of HIS assessments therein. In the second presentation, the participants will learn about the rationale behind the assessment methodology, the assessment approach, and how it is applied in practice. Participants will get hands-on experience through the joint identification of common HIS challenges. By participating in this workshop, participants will gain knowledge about the added value of WHO/Euro’s HIS assessment approach. The workshop will build participants’ capacity to use a HIS performance framework that helps them look at their national (or subnational) HIS in a comprehensive and structured way, as a first step towards evidence-informed and effective HIS strengthening. This workshop will be of interest to both technical health information experts (such as data collectors and data analysists) and policymakers who use health information to support decision making.
Key messages: • While well-functioning health information systems (HIS) are a prerequisite for evidence-informed decision making, strategic HIS coordination and governance are largely lacking in European countries.
• WHO/Euro’s HIS assessment methodology supports countries in evaluating the performance of their HIS in a structured and comprehensive way as a basis for effective and informed HIS improvement.
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BibTeX
@article{whoeurope2026skills,
title = {{P.6. Skills building seminar: A comprehensive methodology for assessing health information system performance}},
author = {WHO/Europe, EUPHA Public Health Monitoring and Reporting section and Hanna Tolonen},
journal = {The European Journal of Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.368},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.368},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - P.6. Skills building seminar: A comprehensive methodology for assessing health information system performance
AU - WHO/Europe, EUPHA Public Health Monitoring and Reporting section
AU - Hanna Tolonen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The European Journal of Public Health
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.368
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.368
AB - Well-functioning health information systems (HIS) are a prerequisite for well-functioning health systems and transparent, evidence-informed health policy, and strong data governance is increasingly important in the current age of rapid digitalization and AI development. Yet, dedicated HIS coordination mechanisms and strategies are largely absent in countries in the WHO European Region. The result of this is that while commonly large volumes of health data are being collected, these are not well-aligned with policy needs. An important reason for this is that HIS typically comprise many different stakeholders and activities, reflecting a historically grown landscape of dispersed data ownership and monitoring and reporting responsibilities. To help Member States get to grips with this complex landscape, WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed a methodology for comprehensively assessing HIS performance. The methodology helps stakeholders to get an understanding of the main strengths and weaknesses in the national HIS, allowing the identification of what needs to be improved to ensure that the HIS produces solid, timely and policy-relevant data and information, that is actually taken up in decision making processes. In this workshop, first participants will learn about WHO’s political mandate for joint work with the European Member States on HIS strengthening and the role of HIS assessments therein. In the second presentation, the participants will learn about the rationale behind the assessment methodology, the assessment approach, and how it is applied in practice. Participants will get hands-on experience through the joint identification of common HIS challenges. By participating in this workshop, participants will gain knowledge about the added value of WHO/Euro’s HIS assessment approach. The workshop will build participants’ capacity to use a HIS performance framework that helps them look at their national (or subnational) HIS in a comprehensive and structured way, as a first step towards evidence-informed and effective HIS strengthening. This workshop will be of interest to both technical health information experts (such as data collectors and data analysists) and policymakers who use health information to support decision making. Key messages: • While well-functioning health information systems (HIS) are a prerequisite for evidence-informed decision making, strategic HIS coordination and governance are largely lacking in European countries. • WHO/Euro’s HIS assessment methodology supports countries in evaluating the performance of their HIS in a structured and comprehensive way as a basis for effective and informed HIS improvement.
SN - 1101-1262
SN - 1464-360X
ER -