Summary of findings 3. Secondary objective: summary of findings.

Summary of qualitative findings for the secondary objectivesa
	Summary of review finding	Studies contributing to the review finding	Overall GRADE‐CERQual assessment of confidence in the evidence	Explanation of GRADE‐CERQual assessmentb
1	Infrastructural issues, such as challenges in charging phones, uploading and transmitting data, and loss of data due to poor access to electricity and poor or non‐existent internet connectivity were identified as key barriers to implementation.	Negandhi 2016Asiimwe 2011; Atnafu 2017; Biemba 2017; Negandhi 2016; Shieshia 2014; Stanton 2016; USAID 2010Atnafu 2017	Moderate confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations
2	Concern was expressed that digital stock notification systems used at the facility level could not mitigate several, broader health system problems, including an underlying lack of stock at the national or district level, and a mismatch between national ordering routines and local needs.	Chandani 2017; Githinji 2013; Hara 2017; Mikkelsen‐Lopez 2014	Low confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations, and minor concerns regarding adequacy
3	Programmes could benefit from strong partnerships, such as with local authorities; with local telecommunications companies; with technical system providers; and with non‐governmental organizations (NGOs).	WHO 2013	Very low confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations, and serious concerns regarding adequacy
4	The availability and use of data on stock levels at all levels of the health system allowed health care officials to respond to anticipated shortages.	Asiimwe 2011; Barron 2016; Biemba 2017; Shieshia 2014; Stanton 2016	Low confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations, and concerns regarding coherence
5	Supportive supervision and responsive management played an important role in effective adoption of a digital system.	Asiimwe 2011; Barrington 2010; Chandani 2017; Negandhi 2016; Shieshia 2014Asiimwe 2011	Moderate confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations
6	The extent to which health workers are familiar with smartphones and are given adequate training in using the digital system, influences the adoption of the system.	Asiimwe 2011; Barrington 2010; Githinji 2013; Negandhi 2016; Shieshia 2014; Stanton 2016	Moderate confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations
7	The availability of technical programming expertise for the initial development and ongoing maintenance of the digital system is an important implementation factor.	Asiimwe 2011; Biemba 2017; USAID 2010Biemba 2017	Low confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations, and concerns regarding adequacy
8	Incentives, such as receiving phone talk‐time credit, to improve adoption and use of the digital system are valuable.	Barrington 2010	Low confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations, and concerns regarding adequacy
9	User‐friendly systems, built with user participation with easy‐to‐use interfaces were considered important to implementation.	Namisango 2016; Negandhi 2016; Shieshia 2014Namisango 2016	Moderate confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations
10	The use of basic mobile phones or personal phones by health workers reduced challenges with data coverage and expense, and supported easier adoption of the intervention due to familiarity with the phones.	Barrington 2010; Stanton 2016	Low confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations, and minor concerns regarding adequacy
11	Software features, such as ability to capture images, map geographic features, support two‐way communication, toll‐free text messaging, and interoperability were considered important.	Barrington 2010; Negandhi 2016; Shieshia 2014	Low confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations, and minor concerns regarding adequacy
12	Dashboard design and data visualisation played important roles in effective implementation. Managers should have access to data in an easy‐to‐use format, such as an interactive dashboard.	Negandhi 2016; Shieshia 2014; USAID 2010	Moderate confidence	Reduced due to serious concerns regarding methodological limitations

^aThe study authors referred to several factors that may influence the implementation, uptake, or efficient use of interventions targeted at improving stock management
^bThe GRADE‐CERQual evidence profile for each finding is available in Table 4