Health Information Systems Consultant

BACKGROUND

As of 27 May, Lao PDR has reported 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19. All cases have a known epidemiological link or travel history to an affected country. Since the start of COVID-19 surveillance in the country, there have been a total of 4,653 samples tested. Since 12 April, there has not been any new cases reported and WHO has been supporting the strengthening of the treatment capacity in all provinces with a planning exercise coupled with training on case management at provincial hospitals.

One of the key things to monitor would be treatment resources in health facilities that treat COVID-19 which includes bed occupancy, ICU bed occupancy, cases on ventilator and cases requiring oxygen therapy and key human resources. It is herewith proposed to engage the services of a short-term consultant to develop a real time software application to track this key pieces of information to be able to monitor and take timely decisions on resource mobilization and referrals.

Furthermore, the Department of Finance of the Ministry of Health has sought WHO’s support in developing the functional requirements for a e-Billing module that would need to be incorporated into the hospital information systems being developed in Lao PDR. In developing the minimum standards for a hospital information systems, standardization of health facility and location-based lists would also be important. The consultant would be required to support in the development of these standard lists in liaison with the relevant national authorities.

PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY

The main objective of the consultancy is to support the development/customization of software tools to collect data on key health system indicators in COVID-19 treatment centres, develop the functional requirements for a patient e-Billing system and to support the customizations and software development on the DHIS2 platform to strengthen the national HMIS for SDG/UHC monitoring.

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT

The consultant will assist the Ministry of Health in developing and supporting the roll out of a real time information system to monitor hospitals resources for COVID-19 which is interoperable with DHIS2 and support in developing the functional requirements to include an e-Billing function in hospital information systems and support with the standardization of the organization units in DHIS2.

The consultant will work closely with the Department of Planning and Coordination within the MOH to develop and build capacity on developing software tools and strategies on the aforementioned systems.

Additionally, the consultant will provide technical support to the collection of related health data, systematic information management, developing and managing DHIS2-based tools and databases related to the COVID-19 activities and tracking of UHC/SDG indicators.

METHODS TO CARRY OUT THE ACTIVITY

Output 1: Develop and support the deployments of a tablet based application to track COVID-19 health system resources;

• Deliverable 1.1: Development of a simple tablet based application which tracks real-time data on bed occupancy, ICU bed occupancy, cases on ventilator and cases requiring oxygen therapy and key human resources and is interoperable with DHIS2

• Deliverable 1.2: Support the deployment of the COVID-19 health systems resource tracking system in all treatment centres and support with initial maintenance of the system

Output 2: Develop the functional requirements for a patient e-Billing system

• Deliverable 2.1: The consultant will be responsible for developing the functional specification for a patient e-Billing system which meets the requirements of Department of Finance and which will be able to interface with a hospital information system

Output 3: Support in standardizing Village lists on DHIS2 and for the common geo-registry

• Deliverable 3.1: The consultant will be responsible for liaising with the relevant national authorities to finalize and standardize a village list to be used in DHIS2 and in the common geo-registry platform of the MoH

Output 4: Provide technical support to the collection of related health data, systematic information management, developing and managing DHIS2-based tools and databases for UNC/SDG tracking

• Deliverable 4.1: Provide technical support to HID in configuring, improving and optimising the DHIS2-based HMIS platform

• Deliverable 4.2: Work with MoH, WHO and partner programmes to design and customise efficient, easy-to-use data collection modules on DHIS2/HMIS.

• Deliverable 4.3: Building dashboards for the monitoring of progress toward UHC and SDGs

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

Essential:  Bachelor’s degree, information systems from a recognised tertiary institution.

Desirable: Post-graduate qualifications in information management

EXPERIENCE

Essential: The candidate should have at least 3 years’ experience working in the field of developing and rolling out information systems in health

Desirable: Previous work experience in WHO or in an international organization

TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE

Experience in managing and coordinating health information system projects within a public health context especially Web development (JavaScript, HTML, SQL Database, etc.) as well as data analysis and report writing

LANGUAGES

High level of proficiency in spoken and written English is essential. Ability to understand Lao/Thai would be an added advantage

COMPETENCIES

• • Producing results
• • Technical expertise
• • Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• • Communication

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Place of assignment is Vientiane, Lao PDR with potentially having to undertake duty travel to the provinces. Owing to the current travel restrictions and the urgency of this role, only candidates in the country will be considered.

APPLICATIONS

Qualified and interested specialists should submit their CV {for individual contractors} or Company Profile {for institutional applications} and Expression of Interest {cover letter} to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at < wproungm@who.int > by 14 June 2020.  

The cover letter should outline how their experience and qualifications make them a suitable candidate for this position and should include their proposed daily consultancy fee and availability.

Please use Tender Notice No. 108990 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.