Digital transformation in health is key to advancing toward universal health coverage, as it contributes to improving access and continuity of healthcare and strengthens resilience in times of crisis.
Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have been investing in the digital transformation of their health systems and learning from each other about what works in digital health.
Digital health strategies are necessary but not sufficient.
Digital health strategies and their roadmaps help set direction and legitimise investment, but on their own they do not transform the system. Latin America and the Caribbean have made great progress in developing national digital health strategies and, to date, 16 countries have one. It is time to implement them, which requires strengthening capacities, predictable financing, and monitoring mechanisms, among others.
Digital transformation in health is like a marathon: steady, without rush but without pause.
The roadmap runs like a marathon: move at a sustained pace, avoiding sprints that can cause resistance and pauses that cool momentum. It’s about iterating in short cycles, learning from each stage, and adapting—shifting from a digitalization approach to a “digital-in-health” approach, where technology and data are progressively integrated into health delivery and management models.
Political commitment and leadership are the anchor.
When authorities publicly support, prioritise resources, and protect continuity, progress in the digital transformation marathon is faster. Without this anchor, digital efforts remain fragmented and vulnerable to budgetary mood swings.
Effective governance balances technology, processes, and clinical practice.
Good technologies and innovations are not enough: most digital transformation processes do not fail due to technological flaws but because clinical processes are not adequately updated and health personnel resist change. Strong governance must ensure technological innovations are integrated into clinical practices and that professionals recognize their value. To enable this, it is essential to invest systemically and intentionally in capacity building—promoting different competency models for diverse profiles—and in change management.
Change management starts by understanding what is perceived as a threat.
When introducing technological innovations, professionals may feel changes mean, for example, increased administrative burden, loss of autonomy, or greater oversight. Therefore, when designing change management programs, the key is to identify who perceives changes as a threat and why. This understanding is the basis for engaging them in the design and adaptation of digital solutions, as well as for effectively communicating changes.
These are the main lessons from a recent regional exchange on digital health held in Chile, which brought together senior and technical teams from the Ministries of Health of Argentina (Buenos Aires Province), Chile, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. The discussion covered different digital transformation roadmaps for health systems and interoperability strategies, their results, and future perspectives.
With support from the Spanish Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (SFLAC) and the Japanese Fund for Policy and Human Resources Development (PHRD), this intensive one-week program showed how peer learning and experience sharing can sustain digital health transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean by shortening the adoption curve, reducing error costs, and facilitating the implementation of effective solutions.
By putting their experiences, challenges, and solutions on the table, countries strengthened their capacities to advance their roadmaps and improve healthcare, laying the foundation for more integrated, resilient, and patient-centered systems.
