Sustaining digital health systems through key stakeholders engagement: a critical systems heuristics perspective

Abstract

Abstract Evaluating the sustainability of a digital health system implemented in large-scale hospitals in a country is a complex scenario because it must obtain the sustainability requirements of a wide range of stakeholder groups consisting of thousands of people. Stakeholder participation in information system projects is becoming increasingly important for any organization seeking operational excellence. A comprehensive stakeholder analysis necessitates determining who these individuals are and how they relate to an organization. Based on Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH), this study presented a sustainability evaluation of a hospital digital health system called the Hospital Health Information Management System in Sri Lanka. The CSH perspective is recognized as a philosophical framework that uses boundary critiques to define the boundaries of social system design, considering the people involved and affected by it. The authors see this sustainability evaluation as an opportunity to identify and address sustainability gaps in the digital health system, with the goal of improving sustainability. It is argued that assessing the sustainability of a digital health system requires a holistic approach that includes obtaining multiple stakeholders’ perspectives informed by Ulrich’s concept of boundary consideration (boundary critique). CSH theoretical concepts were discovered to be applicable in the sustainability evaluation of digital health systems with diverse stakeholders. The inclusion of CSH would improve the efficacy of sustainability assessment by gaining multiple stakeholder perspectives from both the involved and affected categories.