Clinical Decision Support Systems implementation in Africa: a systemic review

Abstract The healthcare system in Africa is characterized by the lack of trained clinicians, resources, brain drain and quality care processes. To mitigate these challenges, some African countries have resorted to the use of health information technologies such as the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS). Globally, CDSS implementations in the health sector have been reported to have reduced medical error, increased hospital accessibility and standard of care. Studies on the number of implemented CDSS in Africa were found to be limited since only a few are available. Despite this setback, the few implemented CDSSs are effective, efficient, and reliable in the diagnosis of diseases. In order to fully ascertain the impact of CDSS implementation in African counties, we evaluated the documented CDSS programs that are in operation. An extensive search was performed on Google Scholar, PubMed, and SCOPUS. About 38 (thirty-eight) publications were identified, of which some met the inclusion criteria. Limited implementation of CDSS was observed in the African countries. The review showed promising impacts of CDSS in African healthcare centers especially in the diagnose and treatment of pediatric and maternal related disease.