The new system cannot function without a comprehensive and interoperable digital information  system. Clear  and accurate  data  on  users, providers, benefits,  products, and outcomes are essential to a functioning system and this data must generate information that allows the Fund to measure equity, access of users to providers and benefits, and to plan strategic  purchasing where  there  are inequities  and deficiencies. Everything must be coded for the system to work, and these need to be universal codes, universally adopted (used by every role-player in both public and private sectors), and preferably international, to allow benchmarking.

Every person (health system user) in the country must have a portable electronic health record that every provider adds to each time they see the user and provide care. These unique patient records will belong to the patient (user) but allow every provider to build on an existing health record without duplicating tests, treatment, and care. The records  will  be carried  on the Health  Patient Record  System  (HPRS),  which is already in place. Providers, managers, researchers, and policymakers must have access to the depersonalised   data  to manage  individual  patient care, and  equity  through  strategic purchasing, and to develop improved and evolving policies.

The law (National Health Act and the NHI Bill) provides the framework and assigns powers  to  achieve   this,   but  the  Regulations   and  the  data  governance, operating procedures, standard dictionaries, normative standards for interoperability, standard analytics, and publication of indicators all need to be developed, documented, and managed.