Health Management Information System

Data - facts, events, transactions, etc, which have been recorded. They are input materials from which information is produced.
Information – data that have been processed in such a way as to be useful to the recipient.
Information management –planning, organizing, controlling, securing and integrating of an organization’s information resources including internal and external information, software, hardware facilities, personnel, information system budget, information systems, policies, procedures and methods.
Information technology – science of collecting, storing, processing and transmitting information.
System – a set of interrelated parts organized or defined for same purpose.
Health Information System - contents of messages of several components of the health of any people
National Health Management Information System - integrated, unified, coordinated subsystem of the National Health Care system for data and information collection, processing, storage, and dissemination to other units of the health system.

Availability of accurate, timely, reliable and relevant health information is the most fundamental step towards health and health resources
Governments at all levels have overriding interest in supporting and ensuring availability of health data and information as a public good, for private and NGOs utilization

Identifying and ranking health priorities
Designing and optimizing strategies for health action
Monitoring and evaluation of the operation of the health services of the community

Often overlooked and underestimated
People have a desire, a need, and a right to know
The more knowledge people have about health issues in their communities, the better they are prepared to make right decisions and take appropriate actions

Research establishments through HIS are able to identify problems and prioritize those for research

Provide relevant information to draw the profile of community by age, sex, disease, morbidity and mortality
Provide information for comparison purposes between communities, temporal changes in communities
Provide a surveillance system that can be used to promptly recognize, diagnose and control outbreaks
Provide useful sources of information for health workers
Help in development of essential research programme
Help to improve output and coverage
Improve standard of quality of care
Provide basis for medical handling and more efficient use of resources
Increase in acceptability of services in the community
Promote greater and more effective involvement of the community in planning and management
Data is used for planning, monitoring and evaluation, administration, decision making

Poor quality of data collection
Inadequate data
Missing records
Collection of unnecessary data
Omission of vital information
Falsification of records
Poor storage of data
Delay in forwarding collected data
Poor feedback mechanisms – no feedback on reports
Poor accessibility and dissemination process or results
Lack of appreciation of the relevance of the data and motivation on the part of some entrusted with the job
Variability in the forms and formats of data collection and reporting at the LGA and State levels

Village health committees, community leaders, voluntary village health workers and traditional birth attendants can provide simple data in form of pictorial records of activities and events, community demographic profile, community pregnancy profile

Planning, monitoring and evaluation of health services are hampered by the dearth of reliable data
The basic demographic data about the size, structure and distribution of the population are unreliable on a national scale in Nigeria
The National Health Policy provided for the establishment of a coordinated National Health Management Information System to improve health care system in the country

To assess the state of health of the population
To identify major health problems
To set priorities at the local, state and national levels
To monitor the progress towards stated goals and targets of the health services to provide indicators for the evaluating and performance of the health services and their impacts on the health status of the population
To provide information to those who need to take action, those who supplied the data and the general public

PHC Information system
Disease surveillance and Notification System
Sentinel Surveillance System
M&E Unit in LGAs
Dept of Planning, Research & Statistics (DPRS) units at State and Federal Levels
Data flow

Review the existing system
Define the data needs of relevant units within the health system
Determine the most appropriate & effective data flow
Design the data collection and reporting tools
Develop the procedures and mechanisms for data processing
Training program for data providers & users
Pre-test, & redesign the system for data collection, data flow, processing & utilization
Monitor and evaluate the system
Develop an effective data dissemination and feedback mechanisms
Enhance the HMIS

For comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of health the following are the main indicators:
Health Policy indicators

Health Status indicators (Ill-health prevention indicators, health restoration and rehabilitation indicators and health protection indicators)

Proportion of people with access to health facility within 5 km to where they live

Practice Questions

Check how well you grasp the concepts by answering the following questions...