Implementation of the Electronic Management Information System in Bangladesh: Experience and Lessons Learned
Implementation of the eMIS in Bangladesh_tr-19-380.pdf
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Year: 2019
Abstract:In 2015, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) of Bangladesh undertook an initiative to develop and implement an electronic management information system (eMIS) to benefit community health service delivery. The initiative was implemented through a collaborative partnership among the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded MEASURE Evaluation project, the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), MaMoni Health Systems Strengthening (now MaMoni MNCSP), and SIAPS (now MTaPS) and was supported by USAID.
The intent of the initiative was to replace cumbersome paper instruments, reduce data burden for health providers, improve data-driven service delivery and quality of care, and make management of health and family planning activities at the grassroots level more efficient and effective. The resultant eMIS provides comprehensive and interlinked electronic tools for use by community-level healthcare and family planning workers (health assistants [HAs] and family welfare assistants [FWAs]), union-level service providers (family welfare visitors [FWVs], sub-assistant community medical officers [SACMOs]), their supervisors (health inspectors [HIs], assistant health inspectors [AHIs], and family planning inspectors [FPIs]), and their managers at the upazila level. Data from eMIS get linked to the mainstream reporting system for use by managers, planners, and policymakers at the directorate and ministerial levels.
All tools created for the eMIS were vetted and approved by the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) and the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The district and upazila managers had overall responsibility for implementing the eMIS, while technical assistance was provided by the eMIS initiative through software development, the provision of equipment, and capacity building. Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceutical and Services (SIAPS), another USAID project (now MTaPS), contributed in the area of logistics management.
This document describes in detail the information technology (IT) structure of the eMIS and the experience of implementing it across several upazilas and districts in Bangladesh.
