The region is at a complex juncture where fiscal constraints force governments to make difficult decisions and prioritize some expenses over others. These decisions are most likely made amid debates about whether to make long-term investments or spend on short-term emergencies: Do we buy vaccinations and medications today, or embark on a DT process?

This publication argues that digitally transforming health is a must rather than an option. Spending on health in LAC is on the rise, and without good information systems, inefficiencies will continue to exacerbate this trend. Furthermore, countries run the risk of attempting a DT and failing. In this case, they will have shelved critical short-term investments, while at the same time failing to achieve long-term results. The purpose of this publication is to share the experience of the IDB and international digital health experts on how to complete a successful DT in health.

This document shows that we have learned a lot about both successes and failures in digital transformation, and we have turned those lessons into guidelines to improve the design and implementation of digital transformation projects in health. Additionally, the growing number of recent studies find largely positive outcomes for the different elements of DT in health. The most recent evidence shows even more encouraging results, which could mean we are learning and improving with each process. Throughout this guide, we used a phrase critical to successful DT in health: well-implemented. This phrase encapsulates the great potential of these processes to improve the quality and efficiency of health care in the region. At the same time, we must ensure the DT does not deepen the region’s already profound inequality.

How can we implement a digital transformation of the health sector process well?

The steps recommended here are not steeped in new technology. They do not focus on artificial intelligence or block chain. Rather, they are based on a disciplined use of common sense. This does not make the process simpler. On the contrary, a DT requires a serious intention backed by strong and ongoing commitment from the state.

DT is a long-term processes, and the countries that have done it the best worked on it for more than a decade. But there are also many early victories along the way that will help countries stay the course and bring improvements to the population and entire health ecosystem.

Then…

It is true that TD is a long -term process and that the countries that most successful did it after more than a decade of effort. It is also true that there are many early victories along the way that will help maintain the course and promote improvements for the population and the entire sanitary ecosystem.

• Let’s start today with a clear vision of the system we want to achieve, centered on people, not technology—a multidisciplinary and multi-sector vision based on the eight guiding principles for digitally transforming health.
• Let’s get a clear and objective idea of the current state of the national health system, and let’s build the path that will take us to the desired future. This path must have buy-in from all actors and users to avoid constant and wearying shifts in direction that lead us farther from our destination.
• Let’s assemble and integrate all the components we need, including infrastructure, infostructure, informed policy and practice, governance, people and culture, and health-specific applications.
• Let’s give patients, who are at the epicenter of this fundamental change, a voice and broad participation in the process.
• Let’s work together as a team:
  private sector, government, civil society, academia, and international development partners. Only by combining the knowledge of different institutions and countries will we be able to move forward. The IDB has developed broad technical capacity and experience in supporting countries on their DT journey. It also has strong alliances with other multilateral organizations, especially the PAHO, and with partner institutions, like the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires and CETIC.br, among others, and countries like Israel and South Korea.

Several countries from the region have proven that success is possible. Despite the current complex socioeconomic situation, countries should build on the progress made so far and give priority to digitally transforming the sector to bring it into the digital age and ensure that current and future health systems do not repeat the long-running failures of the past. This starts by focusing not on the type of technological system to be built, but rather on the types of societies that countries want to build.

In his TED talk in 2015, Bill Gates did more than warn that the next global crisis would be caused by microbes rather than missiles. He also said it would be a recurring threat. Today, most of the international community agrees. By the next health emergency, the region should be fortified and well prepared to face it. Building this preparedness can start today.