How other countries and regions can adopt this approach

Conduct a needs assessment to understand each country’s current health workforce information and administrative systems and processes. Health workforce information needs are likely being addressed at a number of levels in a number of different ways. Identifying and linking these disparate activities is an important first step. Carefully consider what has already been accomplished and coordinate with other efforts in planning and taking the following steps.

Contact the iHRIS team to express interest. The team can help you get started with the software and identify organizations and donors who may be able to provide support.

Identify an established regional body or health organization, such as WAHO, that can lead HRIS implementation at the regional and national level, provide funding, and seek technical assistance and additional resources from global projects, donors, and/or organizations.

Formalize partnerships among local, regional, and global organizations and projects doing related work that can provide technical and/or financial support to the regional body.

Hold high-level meetings with regional and national stakeholders, such as health workforce directors or ministers of health, to ensure ownership, create data-sharing agreements, and identify policy questions that need to be answered in reports.

Engage stakeholders to agree on data standards prior to data collection and entry, so data can be aggregated, shared, and analyzed at the national and regional level.

Ensure iHRIS integrates into the overall health information system architecture and can regularly share data with other systems, such as payroll databases, medical record systems, or applications that track service delivery.

Customize iHRIS for each country’s specific needs and administrative processes, keeping regional data standards in mind, to build country ownership and encourage use of data for daily management of health workers. Seek remote technical support when needed.

Hold workshops and trainings to build regional and national capacity for iHRIS data collection, management, and use, and for providing technical support for the software and backing infrastructure.