Building a master health facility list: innovative Indian experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-86
Author(s):  
Amit Mishra ◽  
Sundeep Sahay
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Health Management ◽  
State Level ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Family Welfare ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Share Data

Adoption of information technology in healthcare has in recent years improved the process of information collection, analysis and use in the Indian public health system. However, it has also led to multiplicity of information systems. Currently, a good amount of data is being generated by various health management information systems (HMISs); however, usability of these data sets is limited owing to lack of technical and institutional ability to share data with other systems. The lack of an effective standard list of health facilities is one of the major impediments to building interoperability among these multiple systems. To overcome this challenge, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has initiated a programme to build a master facility list (MFL) known as National Identification Number to Health Facilities. Facility data from two leading national public health information systems, which were routinely reporting health data since 2008, were selected for this purpose. Common facilities were placed on an online portal for verification by state-level and district-level officers. Currently, this portal holds more than 200 000 verified public health facilities. Use of facility data from existing systems has helped to quickly populate the MFL in India. However, design limitations of the existing systems were also translated to the facility portal. Some lay challenges to sustain and evolve this portal in the future include (1) integration of other HMISs holding facility data with the MFL, (2) public notification of standards for MFL, (3) comprehensive data quality audit of existing MFL facility data and (4) establishment of robust governance mechanisms. We discuss how the benefits from this exercise in technical innovation can be materialised more effectively in practice.

Making HIS More Agile, Relevant and Public Health Friendly: Lessons from Covid-19 in India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sundeep Sahay ◽  
Arunima S Mukherjee ◽  
Carolyn K Tauro ◽  
Arijit Sen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Anthony Giddens ◽  
Public Health Information

Anthony Giddens, the noted sociologist, describes the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘digidemic,’ emphasizing the inextricable linkages between the pandemic and the digital. As the pandemic has spread globally, countries have adopted different strategies to leverage digital technologies, in their design, development, implementation, and governance to address the pandemic. Some of these strategies have worked well and others have not so. We submitted this paper at the time when India was fighting the first COVID-19 wave and are submitting this revised version as India fights a much tougher second wave. And between these two waves, we have witnessed some flattening of the COVID-19 curve and the onset of a rigorous vaccination drive. This paper aims to try to analyse some experiences of how countries leveraged digital technologies in their information systems response, such as from Sri Lanka, South Korea and anchored in a historical understanding of public Health Information Systems (HIS) in India, build key learnings for strengthening HIS in India, both for pandemic situations and also routine health management. These include i) improving agility, reflecting the ability of the HIS to provide timely information for supporting local action; ii) improving relevance, implying providing required information for supporting the desired action for different stakeholders; and, iii) public friendliness, implying the HIS should help support population health at large in an equitable manner. We argue that these learnings are not only relevant for strengthening the HIS response to pandemic management but also more broadly for strengthening Indian public HIS covering routine systems. These learnings are particularly pertinent in the current ‘digital’ context in India, where large-scale interventions related to the National Digital Health Mission are currently being planned and implemented. For good or bad, the ‘digital’ is inevitable in public health systems globally, and it becomes important for researchers and practitioners to engage with this process of understanding the digital interventions and contribute to strengthening the health systems.

scholarly journals Managing pneumonia through facility-based integrated management of childhood management (IMCI) services: an analysis of the service availability and readiness among public health facilities in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Ehsanur Rahamn ◽  
Shema Mhajabin ◽  
David Dockrell ◽  
Harish Nair ◽  
Shams El Arifeen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Child Death ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Family Welfare ◽  
Service Availability ◽  
District Health ◽  
Public Health Facilities ◽  
District Hospitals

Abstract Background With an estimated 24,000 deaths per year, pneumonia is the single largest cause of death among young children in Bangladesh, accounting for 18% of all under-5 deaths. The Government of Bangladesh adopted the WHO recommended Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)-strategy in 1998 for outpatient management of pneumonia, which was scaled-up nationally by 2014. This paper reports the service availability and readiness related to IMCI-based pneumonia management in Bangladesh. We conducted a secondary analysis of the Bangladesh Health Facility Survey-2017, which was conducted with a nationally representative sample including all administrative divisions and types of health facilities. We limited our analysis to District Hospitals (DHs), Maternal and Child Welfare Centres (MCWCs), Upazila (sub-district) Health Complexes (UHCs), and Union Health and Family Welfare Centres (UH&FWCs), which are mandated to provide IMCI services. Readiness was reported based on 10 items identified by national experts as ‘essential’ for pneumonia management. Results More than 90% of DHs and UHCs, and three-fourths of UH&FWCs and MCWCs provide IMCI-based pneumonia management services. Less than two-third of the staff had ever received IMCI-based pneumonia training. Only one-third of the facilities had a functional ARI timer or a watch able to record seconds on the day of the visit. Pulse oximetry was available in 27% of the district hospitals, 18% of the UHCs and none of the UH&FWCs. Although more than 80% of the facilities had amoxicillin syrup or dispersible tablets, only 16% had injectable gentamicin. IMCI service registers were not available in nearly one-third of the facilities and monthly reporting forms were not available in around 10% of the facilities. Only 18% of facilities had a high-readiness (score 8–10), whereas 20% had a low-readiness (score 0–4). The readiness was significantly poorer among rural and lower level facilities (p < 0.001). Seventy-two percent of the UHCs had availability of one of any of the four oxygen sources (oxygen concentrators, filled oxygen cylinder with flowmeter, filled oxygen cylinder without flowmeter, and oxygen distribution system) followed by DHs (66%) and MCWCs (59%). Conclusion There are substantial gaps in the readiness related to IMCI-based pneumonia management in public health facilities in Bangladesh. Since pneumonia remains a major cause of child death nationally, Bangladesh should make a substantial effort in programme planning, implementation and monitoring to address these critical gaps to ensure better provision of essential care for children suffering from pneumonia.

Development of Web GIS Based Framework for Public Health Management System Using ERDAS Apollo 2010

2019 ◽  
pp. 239-253
Author(s):  
Shipra Verma
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Health Information Systems ◽  
Web Gis ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
Java Server Pages ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
The Web

This paper proposes a framework for an essential creation of a public health information visualization platform, for Japanese Encephalitis (JE) disease outbreaks in the Gorakhpur district, India. The Web GIS technology is used with ERDAS Apollo 2010 software at customized level, to develop architecture for Web GIS-based public health information systems. A GUI has been created using Java Server Pages (JSP) for its customization. This will help in extending the benefit of GIS and Web technology for public availability in the area for preparation of the health plan in multitier system.

scholarly journals The Ageing Population and the Challenges of Health Management: A Study of Retirees of Public Institutions in South East Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Samuel O. Okafor ◽  
Christopher O. Ugwuibe
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Public Health Policy ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Health Maintenance ◽  
Public Health Facilities

While life expectancy will continue to improve owing to the domestic humanitarian improvement, proxy-policy influence on the sub-Saharan African nations [Nigeria included] by the United Nations and other developed nations, the ageing population will continue to increase making it more or less policy imperative among the nations within this region. Among other things, public health policy occupies the most important position in the web of policy approach to the needs and care for the aged. In the light of the above, the present paper investigated the realities of public health policy outcome [1988 to 2016], as it affects the ageing populations via public health facilities and health packages for the aged. 600 retirees of public institutions from southeast Nigeria were involved in the study, which adopted survey design and modified random sampling techniques. In view of the substantive issues of the study, less than 25% of the respondents go for regular medical checkups and self-health maintenance, more than 80% depended on self-support for medical upkeep; the regression model adopted in the study proved [p< .05], the factors affecting regular health upkeep and satisfaction with services at the public health facilities among the retirees.

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