Evidence-Gap Map

To guide policymakers and innovators on where digital health interventions deliver the greatest impact, the Center for Global Digital Health Innovation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has released the Digital Health Evidence Gap Map—currently focused on maternal and child health outcomes.

"Do digital health interventions (DHIs) improve health outcomes? Should governments invest scarce resources in them? This work is both important and unique as it takes a practitioner’s perspective to assess the current evidence landscape, recommend what and how we should measure, and outline what’s needed for DHIs to truly make an impact." – Gaurav Bhattacharya, Senior Program Officer, Gates Foundation

This Evidence Gap Map is an interactive tool that visually summarizes existing research on the impact of digital interventions in maternal and child health. It highlights proven solutions while also pinpointing gaps where high-impact research is most needed. This effort comes at a critical time, as global health systems seek innovative ways to address persistent inequities in maternal and child care. Despite a clear rationale to leverage technology—including to optimize service delivery in an era of diminished resources for global development—questions remain: where do DHIs deliver the greatest value, and how do they shape access, quality, and efficiency?

“For nearly two decades, we have experimented with digitization in health care, first with enthusiasm for innovation’s promise, then with the sobering recognition that technology is no silver bullet. While we have gained invaluable lessons, we have also seen resources misused, as investments in digital tools inevitably shift funds from other priorities. The question now is how to maximize limited resources to truly improve health outcomes. Evidence must guide us, drawing on both our successes and failures, so that as we introduce AI-driven interventions, we build responsibly on what we have learned and avoid repeating past mistakes.”  –Smisha Agarwal, Director of the Center for Global Digital Health Innovation and the study’s principal investigator.

Published on the Implementome platform in coordination with the Geneva Digital Health Hub, the Evidence Gap Map charts research on both patient- and provider-facing DHIs and their impact on health outcomes and service delivery. It reveals where strong evidence exists and where more rigorous research is required.

To comprehensively distill existing data, CGDHI conducted an umbrella review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries. The analysis covered over 12,400 systematic reviews, 4,500 primary studies, and 200 reports gathered through a global “call for evidence.”

Current as of 2024, the review examines five outcome categories: health status, client behavior, access and timeliness, quality of service, and efficiency. It evaluates DHIs in delivering reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) services in primary health care settings within low-and middle-income countries. The dataset includes systematic reviews published from January 2012 to July 2024, primary studies from January 2019 to September 2024, and unpublished evidence submitted directly by digital health implementers.