SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW: DATA STANDARDIZATION IN HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Digitalization within the healthcare sector has resulted in the accumulation of vast amounts of data that can be utilized towards the improvement of health outcomes. Meaningful use of such data, however, requires that it is standardized. Standardization plays a key role in providing a universal language for data that is exchanged through different health systems. Through a systematic literature review, this paper identifies practices that are vital for an effective standardization process. Ontological development, governance and organizational practices are identified as pertinent to the process of standardization and are analyzed and explained through the lens of a multi-thread social activity model by Fomin et al. (2003). This model provides a comprehensive view of related aspects of design, sense- making, and negotiation. The analysis shows that all these aspects take place in all stages of the standardization process, and they are highly dependent on each other and can occur simultaneously.