Twenty-first-century health systems will be built around data and information. An integrated health information system enables the secure flow of data to where they can be used to create information and knowledge to advance policy and health system objectives. This report describes the requirements and the benefits of an integrated health information system and outlines the current situation in Korea.

Twenty-first-century health systems will be built around data and information. An integrated health information system enables the secure flow of data to where they can be used to create information and knowledge to advance policy and health system objectives. This report describes the requirements and the benefits of an integrated health information system; outlines the current situation in Korea in the context of progress across OECD countries; and recommends policy and operational changes to overcome barriers to the efficient exchange and sharing of health data and establish an integrated health information system that supports continuous learning, improvement and innovation.

Twenty-first century health systems have to be built around data and information. An integrated health information system enables the secure flow of data to where they can be used, to provide information to strengthen integrated care delivery, enable public health monitoring and management, and foster medical and health research and innovation.

The COVID-19 pandemic had massive consequences for societies and health systems across the OECD and beyond. Health systems were not resilient enough. Resilient health systems plan and are ready for shocks, such as pandemics, economic crises or the effects of climate change.

Digital health is a rapidly expanding area of interest for both research, policy and practice, and within that area digital technologies (DTs) for health financing receive increasing attention. DTs can change the nature and business processes of health financing functions and tasks and modify the interactions between health financing actors. Depending on their design features and actual implementation as well as broader contextual factors, DTs can affect the health financing tasks and functions (positively or negatively). However, little robust evidence exists on the impact of DTs specifically on health financing and universal health coverage (UHC) objectives. More rigorous evaluations in this area is urgently needed. The aim of this guide is to support the evidence generation on DTs for health financing. The guide provides orientation to analyse a country use case of digital technology and its (positive and negative) effects for health financing, i.e. whether, how and why it contributes to the realization of desirable health financing attributes and UHC intermediate and final objectives or whether, how and in which circumstances it is actually harmful to these.