The PhD defence will be partially digital, in Kristen Nygaards sal (5370), Ole-Johan Dahls hus and streamed directly using Zoom. The host of the session will moderate the technicalities while the chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the attending audience at Kristen Nygaards sal to ask ex auditorio questions.
Trial lecture
“Evaluating the effectiveness of HMIS in improving health systems performance”
Time and place: March 25th, 2025 11:15 AM. Kristen Nygaards sal (5370), Ole-Johan Dahls hus / Zoom.
Main research findings
My research is about the impact of digitalization in health information systems on the decision-making and actions of health managers in Bangladesh.
It highlights the Ministry of Health's initiative to digitize health management information systems since 2008, exploring how this transformation has empowered health managers. Implementing digital health management information systems is a global priority, driven by countries' aims to become innovative or digital nations.
My motivation for this research comes from my experience with data-driven decision-making in Bangladesh. However, implementing HMIS poses various challenges that must be addressed to ensure success. Health management information systems and the empowerment of health managers are complex phenomena. The narrow view of assessing HMIS and labeling them as a "failure" in several countries is debatable. It is crucial to scrutinize each factor and its implementation critically. A mixed-method approach was adopted to provide a more detailed analysis of the complexities and strengthen the case. The qualitative research identified five critical factors: health dashboard, improved communication, decentralized planning, innovative systems, and implementation phase to the use of information.
My research shows that the impact of digitalization on health managers varies widely based on context and evaluation methods, differing from studies in other countries with HMIS. The study provides new insights into how empowerment among health managers emerged while implementing digitalization in HMIS. This study, a first in Bangladesh, uses Alsop's empowerment concept to evaluate the skills health managers gain in decision-making and analysis. It highlights the vital role of HMIS as an opportunity structure, showing how health managers have become more efficient, competent, and authoritative decision-makers. They are empowered by their enhanced skills in data analysis, which have been bolstered through measurement, predictions, positivity, and comfort with the new HMIS. They are highly motivated and utilize their administrative power to take impactful actions using HMIS.
The study has provided valuable insights into the journey of empowerment before and after digitalization.
Adjudication committee
- Professor Thiagarajan Sundararaman, Peoples Health Movement, India
- Lecturer, PhD Priyanka Pandey, King's College London, UK
- Professor Miria Grisot, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
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Professor Emeritus Jens Johan Kaasbøll, University of Oslo, Norway
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Associate Professor Johan Ivar Sæbø, University of Oslo, Norway
Chair of defence
- Professor Margunn Aanestad, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo
Contact information at Department: Mozhdeh Sheibani Harat