Information Technologies

To compare the effectiveness of mobile phone text messaging and that of traditional health worker training in communicating clinical recommendations to health workers in China. [from abstract]

This study explores the personal experiences of health workers using e-health innovations in selected
post-conflict situations. [from abstract]

The objective of this study is to provide information on the current state of physician tracking systems in the region, highlighting emerging themes and innovative practices. [from abstract]

This toolkit can help public health managers to plan for the implementation of information and communications technology (ICT) in health information systems. It draws on lessons learned during project Optimize, a five-year partnership between the World Health Organization and PATH to help optimize the vaccine supply chain

This project aimed to meet the technical needs of Health Extension Workers and midwives in Ethiopia for maternal health using appropriate mobile technologies tools. [from introduction]

This study aimed to evaluate an e-mental health approach to workers’ health surveillance targeting work functioning and mental health of healthcare professionals in a randomized controlled trial. [from abstract]

This study addresses the growing academic and policy interest in the appropriate provision of local healthcare services to the healthcare needs of local populations to increase health status and decrease healthcare costs. The research goal is to examine the construction of a decision tool which enables healthcare planners to analyse local supply and demand in order to arrive at a better match. [from abstract]

This article reports on a workforce information system designed to assemble the latest available data on oncologist supply and cancer incidence and prevalence, which was developed in anticipation of projected oncologist workforce shortages. [adapted from abstract]

This article evaluates the use and impact of a 13 year old web-based telemedicine system on the health care services provided by health professionals who have used the system. [adapted from author]

This study aims to describe and assess selected clinical and reporting information processes of health workers providing antenatal care services in three Kenyan facilities to the national health information system. It assessed different aspects of clinical information systems and the quality of data. [adapted from author]

This guide was developed to assist organizations in developing health human resources databases that are consistent with national standards and that provide opportunities to make comparisons between jurisdictions and professions. The guide is not intended to provide the steps to build a database; rather, it introduces the standards to be used for collecting, processing and reporting health human resources data. [from introduction]

This guidance document is for use principally by the district experts, heath extension supervisors and health extension workers all over the country as training on the health information systems requirements for local (community level) data collection, processing, analysis and dissemination, as well as linking to the national health management and information systems. [adapted from publisher]

This manual is intended as a training of trainers manual for hospital management and case teams and for hospital staff on the use of health information management systems - both in terms of how to collect, aggregate and report data, but also to help staff understand the utility and benefits of the data they collect. [adapted from abstract]

The Health Management Information System (HMIS) in Ethiopia is designed to capture and provide essential core data for planning and monitoring the health system’s performance. This document provides handout materials and other instruments to be used in HMIS training for health providers. [abstract]

This article describes the scale-up of the Community Health Information System (CHIS), a family-centered health information system designed for the health extension worker to manage and monitor her work in educating households and delivering an integrated package of promotive, preventive, and basic curative health service to families. It also documents achievements and challenges, sharing lessons learned that can be useful in CHIS implementation in other regions. [adapted from summary]

The article focuses on health staff and managers, who develop and maintain routine health information systems, and highlights specific information needs, analysis, access and dissemination required to enable local and national emergency and public health teams to mount an adequate response to disasters. [from author]

This article describes the early outcomes, achievements, and challenges from an initiative that hired university graduates without training in health information and provided on-the-job training and mentoring to create a new cadre of health worker in order to address the shortage of health information personnel within Botswana. [adapted from abstract]

This study reviewed the evidence for the use of mobile technology by community health workers to identify opportunities and challenges for strengthening health systems in resource-constrained settings. [from abstract]

This article shares various experiences in using mobile phones for malaria programs from news reports and research studies and how the mobile phone is becoming a valuable tool in fighting malaria from improving management of the information flow between health managers, health workers and patients to assisting health workers in parasite diagnosis. [adapted from author]

The Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) framework defines routine health information system (RHIS) performance as both the production of quality data and documented use of information for health services decision making. This paper describes the conceptual framework on the determinants of RHIS performances and effectiveness of strategies to improve the system. [adapted from abstract]

This paper from the International Conference on ICT for Africa reports on a mobile phone application designed to support community health workers in providing family planning counseling to their clients. [from abstract]

This brief describes the process and outcomes of a project in Nigeria that developed a standard, integrated tuberculosis (TB) supervision checklist to assess and monitor diagnostic laboratories and TB services at the facility-level in the public and private sectors, which was deployed using smartphones. [adapted from author]

This paper from the International Conference on Research in Human Resources for Health examines the effectiveness an approach to using routine human resources for information system data to strengthen the health workforce in low-resourced settings. [adapted from author]

This technical brief introduces the concept of health informatics and describes the considerations to be kept in mind when designing education and training programs for health informatics. [from author]

This program is designed as an organizational process that brings together teams to focus on and develop leadership and management practices, identify and face challenges that inhibit data use, and achieve measurable results in applying data demand and use technical skills in order to make well-informed, evidence-based policy and program decisions. This curriculum has been developed as a complete program that will allow facilitators and the faculty of institutions of higher education to deliver the course. [from author]

This integrative review of the literature provides an in-depth analysis of the effect that educational techniques, frequency, setting and mode of delivery have on health worker learning outcomes and subsequent practice behaviors. [adapted from introduction]

This paper describes a text message-based solution that harnesses the prevalence of mobile phones coupled with several open source tools to empower para-social workers who carry the primary responsibility in providing essential services to the growing population of orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania. [adapted from abstract]

This guide gives recommendations about how the global health eLearning courses can be used to enhance face-to-face, online, and blended training and performance support approaches by helping participants acquire and apply new knowledge and comprehension. Practical examples of how to do so are included for trainers and individual learners. [adapted from author]

This article examined the association between a mobile phone intervention and skilled delivery attendance in a resource-limited setting. [from author]

The aim of this study was to formatively evaluate a 12-week, completely online module from a South African university for medical specialists in their first year of training; assessing both the mode of delivery as well as the perceived effectiveness and usefulness. [adapted from abstract]