Trends, Findings, and Opportunities: An Archival Review of Health Information Systems Research in Nigeria

Low and middle income countries continue to struggle with limited availability of healthcare capability and resources. Recently, a variety of health information systems (HIS) projects have been piloted in an attempt to overcome these challenges by improving the quality of data to support the delivery of healthcare services from the community to hospital settings. Indeed, existing literature considers a breath of pilot HIS studies that have been undertaken in African countries. This study focuses on HIS interventions in the West African country of Nigeria. This paper conducts an archival analysis of existing literature on HIS in Nigeria published in premier Information Systems (IS) and Health Informatics outlets. This analysis provides a comprehensive picture of existing literature by identifying trends, discussing findings, and proposing new research opportunities. The 18 articles meeting the inclusion criteria are reviewed. Using a framework developed by Leon, Schneider, and Daviaud (2012), we consider current trends to elucidate the factors influencing health IS implementation in developing countries. Several challenges face IS implementation in Nigeria such as the lack of policy guidance, resistance among end users, and cultural barriers. Existing studies are limited in scope, theory, and level of analysis applied. The paper contributes to the literature by providing practical recommendations to better navigate future HIS implementations in developing countries, while also identifying avenues through which IS researchers can advance the HIS literature in an empirical, theoretical, and practical sense.