Strengthening Health Information Management System in Tuvalu
Background
Tuvalu is an island nation with a population of approximately 11,000. About half of the population lives on Funafuti, the capital island. Tuvalu has one main hospital, The Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on Funafuti. There are 8 outer islands clinics staffed by nurses who provide primary care and preventive services. Health services are all provided by the public service as there is no private sector.
For the outer island clinics at the primary health care level, there is a consolidated monthly reporting in place. Currently this data is collected by means of a paper-based system of different registers, reporting templates and tally sheets, at each health facility. The collated monthly data is sent to the central level (Princess Margaret Hospital) where it is analysed and entered into computerized system. There is also a medical folder/filing system in place but it is not well managed. Currently a large amount of information collected is underutilized, and is reported and stored in a ‘silo system’. For example the information collected from the various programs is not collated or triangulated to provide an up‐to‐date program ‘snap shot’ summary for management decisions. The future goal is that all health information from the PHC level would be incorporated into the electronic health information system.
Human resources are a major weak spot in the health care system. There is no health information officer working at the moment and one receptionist and one coding clerk update the data with the assistance of the health workers.
Work to be performed
Method(s) to carry out the activity
Field consultation includes revision of the current HIS system (primary health care and hospital levels) in place, developing and rationalizing HIS templates and reporting mechanism and giving recommendations for the future HIS development.
Output/s
In collaboration with the Tuvalu Ministry of Health and Medical Services and the WHO Pacific Health Systems and Policy team, the contractor will:
- Conduct an analysis of the current Health Information System in Tuvalu specifically looking at flow and utilization of data and developing and rationalizing standard operating procedures (SOP) and different templates to collect health information at PHC and hospital levels.
- Review the current reporting systems to make it more user friendly, so that reports can be generated efficiently for health planning and management purposes. Give recommendations how to better maintain and manage filing systems, so medical folders are readily available and that medical folders and HIS information would complement each other.
- Strengthen, organize and develop further a paper-based system of registers, tally sheets, and monthly data collation forms at each health facility. Data collection templates should be in a format that they could be easily to be transferred to web-based health facility information system in the future.
- Develop excel based template for collated monthly and quarterly data for the national level reporting.
- Oversee the data entry process and quality to the developed excel based template for year 2015, 2016 and Q1 2017 (data will be inserted by a local assistant).
- Produce Quarterly Health Bulletin for the Q1 2017 as a sample.
- Make recommendations about how the information management system can be made more effective, efficient and systematic, resulting in increased utilization of relevant data for program management.
Technical Supervision
The selected Consultant will work on the supervision of:
Responsible Officer: Kontio, Katri/Technical Officer for Health Information, Pacific Health Systems and policy, Pacific Technical Support
Email: kkontio@who.int
Manager: Kunhee Park, A/Team Coordinator, Pacific Health Systems and policy, Pacific Technical Support
Email: parkku@who.int
Specific requirements
- Experience required: At least 7 years of working experience, including international work experience, with specialisation in public health, health information systems and other relevant areas. Experience working in one or more Pacific islands would be an asset.
- Skills / Technical skills and knowledge: Extensive knowledge and experience in health research and health information system development, particularly at PHC level, ability to coordinate with various stakeholders and write official documents.
- Language requirements:
Written and spoken fluency in English is essential.
Competencies
- Communicating in a credible and effective way;
- Producing results;
- Moving forward in a changing environment; and
- Fostering integration and teamwork
Place of assignment
Home country and Tuvalu.
Timeline/Duration of assignment
The duration for of the assignment is from 14 August to 1 September 2017, with 18 working days (3 weeks).
Proposed activities Due dates
HIS assessment 18 August
Excel based template for collated monthly and quarterly data 23 August
Quarterly Health Bulletin for Q1 2017 29 August
Final report with recommendations 1 September
Detailed cost breakdown
Contractual fee = (submit your expected working days, preferably 18 days) X (submit your expected daily rate) = ___________
Airfare (your place – Funafuti – your place) = (submit your expected cost for 1 round trip) = ____________
Per-diem in Funafuti = 19 nights x 215 USD = 4,085 USD
Local data coder = 40 USD/day X 15 days = 600 USD
Miscellaneous (if any, specify) = ______________
TOTAL = _____________________
Applications
Qualified and interested individuals or institutions should submit an application letter with an expected quotation to wpfjidpsprocurement@who.int. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Application close on Tuesday 25 July 2017. Please use Tender Notice No. 59285 as subject to all submissions