Coordinating Information Systems for Health in East Africa

Jul 7, 2010
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CapacityPlus software developer Carl Leitner recently traveled to Kenya to advance the project’s initiatives to strengthen human resources information systems (HRIS). These initiatives entail furthering regional support of the iHRIS software, fostering collaboration with other health information systems implementers in the region, and gathering feedback for future HRIS trainings.

Regional staffing and capacity needs
In Nairobi, Leitner met with representatives from the IntraHealth International-led Capacity Kenya project to discuss regional staffing and capacity needs in order to apply and adapt the iHRIS software. Since iHRIS is currently being deployed in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, the meeting will help to coordinate future development plans. The group began drafting an agenda and participant list for the regional meeting, which will likely be held in August and funded by Capacity Kenya.

Integrating health informatics
In Eldoret, he attended a health informatics training offered by the Regional East African Centre of Health Informatics (REACH-Informatics) and met with representatives from Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare, a USAID-funded project, to discuss ways to integrate Kenya’s iHRIS Manage software with OpenMRS, an Open Source electronic medical records system.

HRIS eLearning course
Additionally, Leitner seized the opportunity to prepare for a future CapacityPlus activity—developing an HRIS-specific eLearning course to be hosted on the HRH Global Resource Center. As the training participants closely represented the intended target audience for the HRIS course, Leitner administered an eLearning readiness assessment. Participant feedback will be used to inform development of the course, future informatics trainings in Kenya and the region, and development of Health Informatics Building Blocks, a new initiative led by the American Medical Informatics Association.

 

Photo: Jennifer Stewart (REACH-Informatics training participants in Kenya)