Health Information Systems
Strong health systems are central to achieving better health outcomes, and strong health information systems (HIS) are the backbone of strong health systems. A properly functioning HIS gets the right information into the right hands at the right time, enabling policymakers, managers, and individual service providers to make informed choices about everything from patient care to national budgets. Strong health information systems support greater transparency and accountability by increasing access to information. Unfortunately, many low and middle-income countries have a long way to go to achieve these goals.
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To learn how this work is continuing after the MEASURE Evaluation project, please visit PMI Measure Malaria and TB DIAH. |
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MEASURE Evaluation worked in partnership with global, national, and local partners to strengthen HIS. Dedicated to achieving sustainable improvements in health system performance and health outcomes, the project built capacity to generate, manage, and use health information at both national and subnational levels. MEASURE Evaluation sought to foster greater ownership and accountability for HIS, and promoted the use of data for decision making.
The project worked with countries at their specific level of capacity with four key desired results in mind:
- Strengthened collection, analysis, and use of routine health data. For the least-developed country systems this entailed setting up a system where one did not exist, while for more mature country programs our efforts were to “graduate” them so they are maintained with minimal external support.
- Improved capacity to manage HIS. Less mature programs needed help in developing a management strategy or taking on increased leadership while mature programs have strong leadership in the ministry of health (or relevant ministry) with robust coordination among all stakeholders.
- Information gaps addressed with strong methods and tools. MEASURE Evaluation worked to bring countries to a point at which they were assessing their own needs and local experts were developing appropriate methods to initiate and scale up effective programs and share information among stakeholders.
- Increased capacity for rigorous evaluation. We worked with countries where no demand existed for reliable data, or where data was generated by outside experts, with the goal to move a country toward the point where in-country research institutions were meeting the government’s desire and demand for data. Hallmarks of a mature capacity are a national evaluation system and framework capable of planning and managing rigorous evaluations, a community of data experts, and government officials who champion data collection and usage.
| MEASURE Evaluation’s Health Information Systems Strengthening (HISS) Resource Center serves as a central hub for the exploration of what works to strengthen HIS, a repository for evidence about how strengthened HIS improve health outcomes, and a learning space for health professionals to share and exchange information on HIS strengthening. Visit the HISS Resource Center. |
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