Implementing Nigeria's Master Facility List: Results of User Acceptance Testing


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Author(s): MEASURE Evaluation

Year: 2019

Implementing Nigeria's Master Facility List: Results of User Acceptance Testing Abstract:

The development of Nigeria's Health Facility Registry (HFR) and processes for the management of the national Master Facility List (MFL) was a priority of Nigeria’s National Health Information System Strategic Plan (2014–2018). The MFL is a list of health facilities with administrative information that can be used to identify and contact the facility as well as services provided at that facility. The MFL’s shortcomings included the lack of processes and an associated information system to facilitate the ongoing management of health facility data. The development of the HFR addressed these gaps. The HFR was also designed to facilitate the easy identification of health facilities and will serve as a primary source for different information systems to get data on health facilities.

User acceptance testing (UAT) is a critical phase in the software development process. During UAT, a system’s clients test whether the system can handle required tasks under real-world scenarios and according to agreed-on specifications.

The first UAT of the HFR was conducted on December 12, 2017, based on initial system requirements. In 2018, MEASURE Evaluation continued to improve the HFR, making major enhancements and developing the second version of the system (HFR 2.0). In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), MEASURE Evaluation also developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) in October 2018 for managing the facilities in the HFR. Following the validation of the SOPs by the MFL technical working group, approval workflows were prepared to ensure the proper addition, update, and deletion of facilities according to the SOPs for the HFR.

Because of the major system improvements, another UAT was needed to ensure that all functionalities worked as expected. MEASURE Evaluation and the FMOH conducted a workshop from March 27–29, 2019, to review the system and perform the UAT.

Other resources that support Nigeria’s MFL are available here: https://www.measureevaluation.org/countries/nigeria/toolkit-for-implementing-the-health-facility-registry-in-nigeria/

Filed under: MFL , Master facility list , health management information system , HMIS , electronic health management information system