WHO envisions a future where everyone in the world benefits fully and immediately from clinical, public health, and data-use recommendations. SMART Guidelines are a new approach to systematize and accelerate the consistent application of recommended, life-saving interventions in the digital age.
WHO guidelines articulate and endorse rigorously tested recommendations for health interventions to be adopted within country programs. When applied correctly and consistently, guideline recommendations save lives.
Countries are investing heavily in digital systems to accelerate the adoption of these recommended clinical, public health, and data interventions. The design, functionality, and content of digital tools and systems — that collect, exchange, and use patient data to drive health practices and coordination of care within health systems — can ensure adherence to national guidelines and lead to improved quality of care.
To implement WHO recommendations in country settings, governments and technology partners must interpret and then adapt the content in line with local policies, procedures, and digital tools. The process of translating and incorporating recommendations into digital systems can be challenging, time-consuming, and prone to error. There is currently a lack of technical documentation and standards for accurate incorporation, resulting in digital implementations inconsistent with recommended data and health practices. Member States and their implementation partners need specifications for digitizing guidelines and making health investments consistent with WHO data, interoperability, and guideline recommendations.
SMART Guidelines — Standards-based, Machine-readable, Adaptive, Requirements-based, and Testable - are a comprehensive set of reusable digital health components (e.g., interoperability standards, code libraries, algorithms, technical and operational specifications) that transform the guideline adaptation and implementation process to preserve fidelity and accelerate uptake. SMART Guidelines provide a five-step pathway to advance the adoption of best clinical and data practices, even if a country is not yet fully digital.
More information available here: https://www.who.int/teams/digital-health-and-innovation/smart-guidelines
| L2: Digital Adaptation Kits | L3 : FHIR Implementation Guides | |
|---|---|---|
| Antenatal Care | WHO Antenatal Care Guideline Implementation Guide | |
| Family Planning | Coming soon! | |
| HIV, second edition | Coming soon! | |
| Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates: Vaccination status (DDCC:VS) | WHO Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates (DDCC) | |
| Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates: Test results (DDCC:TR) | WHO Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates (DDCC) | |
| Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) | Trust for the Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) | WHO SMART Trust |
| TB | SMART DAK TB | Coming soon! |
| Clinical Care in Crises (CCC) | SMART DAK CCC | Coming soon! |
| Immunizations | Coming soon! | Coming soon! |