USAID and CHISU's Support for Serbia's Health System Digitalization: New Steps Toward Improving Healthcare Services

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Prof. Dr Verica Jovanović, Director of the IPH Batut speaks at the closing event with Prof. Dr. Ivana Stasevic Karlicic, MOH, Dr. Stephanie Watson-Grant, CHISU Project Director, and Hajime Toyofuku, from USAID

After over three years of successful collaboration with the Government of Serbia to strengthen the country’s health information system, CHISU closed its program in the country with an event on September 12, 2024, to celebrate progress and chart the way forward for Serbia’s digital transformation. During its implementation from April 2021 to September 2024, CHISU supported the development of the Program for the Digitalization of the Health System in the Republic of Serbia (2022–2026) and its accompanying action plan for 2022–2023, laying the foundation for Serbia’s digital transformation.  

The project focused its support on strengthening the capacity of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut” (IPH Batut) to better leverage technology for health. This included a mentorship and training program for staff to build advanced analytics and data visualization skills using Microsoft Power BI and R. These tools enable large datasets to be visualized in routine reports, providing insights into population health status, health service delivery, and allocation of resources across the health system. As part of our efforts to improve data use and develop additional analytical capacities, CHISU also led a pilot project to demonstrate how artificial intelligence can optimize hospital bed occupancy and vaccine distribution.

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CHISU Program Director Dr. Stephanie Watson-Grant speaks on a panel during the closing event

In addition, CHISU supported the digitalization of the country’s immunization records, facilitating the transition to electronic records for all 151 of the government’s primary health facilities. To ensure that all immunization data are available across district and national levels, the different information systems used by health individual centers followed standards set by IPH Batut. This enables automated exchange of data with the Public Health Service Information System (PHS), providing rapid access to quality information for planning.  

"We believe that continuity is a prerequisite for better immunization records and better health," said Professor Doctor Verica Jovanovic, director of IPH Batut.  "Our network of public health institutes, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Government of Serbia, will apply these results in the future."

CHISU implements programs in over 20 countries to support host-country governments to measure and advance digital transformation of their health information systems, including Serbia. The program is slated to close in July of 2026.

Read local media coverage of the event:

• Euronews

• Tanjug

• Dnevnik