CapacityPlus’s New iHRIS Software Product Being Coded In-Country

CapacityPlus’s new iHRIS software product, iHRIS Retain, is being coded in-country by two developers in Uganda, Stephen Ocaya and Nobert Mijumbi. This Open Source software is designed to help cost interventions to retain rural health workers, and is based on the World Health Organization’s global policy recommendations for rural retention.

There are many ways health workers can be motivated to accept posts and remain in underserved areas. In order to make decisions about which retention strategies to pursue, and to advocate for funding support, health workforce leaders need to know how much they will cost. Recognizing this, CapacityPlus partnered with the World Health Organization to design the easy-to-use tool. CapacityPlus then contracted with developers in Uganda who are interns for the Uganda Capacity Program—an IntraHealth International-led associate award of the Capacity Project, the predecessor to CapacityPlus.

Using iHRIS Retain, health workforce leaders will be able to determine the costs of different retention interventions across cadres at the national, regional, district, or facility level. The software will guide users through the costing process step by step. Based on data entered, it will determine the total costs and generate reports for each intervention. Stakeholders can use the results to determine the economic feasibility of different scenarios.

CapacityPlus’s iHRIS software is a suite of tools for managing and supporting health workers. This is the first iHRIS product that will be coded in-country. Development of iHRIS Retain has been a joint effort in conjunction with CapacityPlus’s Carl Leitner. “This is a multifaceted project,” Leitner said. “Not only is it trying to meet the specific goal of retaining rural health workers, but in doing so it is building in-country IT capacity.” A pilot and release of iHRIS Retain are forthcoming.

Photo: Nobert Mijumbi and Stephen Ocaya coding iHRIS Retain