Determinants of scale-up from a small pilot to a national electronic immunization registry in Vietnam: Qualitative evaluation
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Sep 22, 2020
Digital health innovations can improve health system performance, yet previous experience has shown that many innovations do not advance beyond the pilot stage to achieve scale. Vietnam’s National Immunization Information System (NIIS) began as a series of digital health pilots, first initiated in 2010, and was officially launched nationwide in 2017. The NIIS is one of the few examples of an electronic immunization registry (EIR) at national scale in low- and middle-income countries. This qualitative study explored the facilitators and barriers to national scale-up of the EIR in Vietnam. Qualitative data were collected in 2019 through in-depth key informant interviews and desk review. The results highlight the importance of the measured, iterative approach that was taken to gradually expand a series of small pilots to nationwide scale. The findings from this study can be used to inform other countries considering, introducing, or in the process of scaling an EIR or other digital health innovations.