Assessing the Digital Maturity of the Telemedicine and e-Health in Croatian Healthcare System – A National-Level Assessment of Digital Health Maturity and EHDS Readiness

Advancing more rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital transformation of healthcare systems has become a strategic imperative of the European Union. As the accelerated implementation of telemedicine services and e-health infrastructures have shaped health reforms in all Member States, including Croatia, new levels of digital maturity have been reached. This thesis is set to examine the digital maturity of the Croatian healthcare system in the context of telemedicine and e-health development, with special focus on compliance with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) framework. The research applies the HIMSS Digital Health Indicator (DHI) as an analytical framework to evaluate national readiness across four core dimensions: Governance and Workforce, Interoperability, Person-Enabled Health and Predictive Analytics. By using desk-based methodology on secondary data, the study operationalises DHI indicators into an analytical matrix to systematically analyse strategic documents, implementation reports and publicly available materials to evaluate digital maturity of Croatian healthcare. Croatia demonstrates moderate digital maturity across set dimensions as system is characterised by operational national services, but incomplete systemic integration. Subsequently, results suggest partial readiness for large-scale telemedicine deployment and EHDS implementation, with key gaps related to workforce capacity, patient engagement and analytics utilisation. By adapting an DHI framework for national policy analysis, the thesis makes methodology contributions and provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening digital health governance and interoperability. The study also contributes to theoretical digital maturity research with applicative implications for healthcare practitioners, policymakers and organisations managing digital transformation in Croatia, identifying gaps in conformity between requirements and operational implementation.