
Publications
Research, journal articles and white papers
Sep 22, 2020
Determinants of scale-up from a small pilot to a national electronic immunization registry in Vietnam: Qualitative evaluation
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Digital health innovations can improve health system performance, yet previous experience has shown that many innovations do not advance beyond the pilot stage to achieve scale. Vietnam’s National Immunization Information System (NIIS) began as a series of digital health pilots, first initiated in 2010, and was officially launched nationwide in 2017. The NIIS is one of the few examples of an electronic immunization registry (EIR) at national scale in low- and middle-income countries. This qualitative study explored the facilitators and barriers to national scale-up of the EIR in Vietnam. Qualitative data were collected in 2019 through in-depth key informant interviews and desk review. The results highlight the importance of the measured, iterative approach that was taken to gradually expand a series of small pilots to nationwide scale. The findings from this study can be used to inform other countries considering, introducing, or in the process of scaling an EIR or other digital health innovations.Aug 25, 2020
Determinants of facility-level use of electronic immunization registries in Tanzania and Zambia: An observational analysis
Global Health: Science and Practice
As more countries transition from paper-based to electronic immunization registries (EIRs) to collect and track individual immunization data, guidance is needed for successful adoption and use of these systems. Little research is available on the determinants of EIR use soon after introduction. The BID Initiative published an observational study assessing the determinants of facility health care workers’ use of new EIRs in Tanzania and Zambia. The results highlight the importance of organizational and behavioral factors in explaining sustained EIR use. Read the full manuscript in Global Health: Science and Practice.Jun 17, 2020
Assessing the incremental costs and savings of introducing electronic immunization registries and stock management systems: Evidence from the BID Initiative in Tanzania and Zambia
Pan African Medical Journal
Poor data quality and use negatively impact immunization programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In addition, many LMICs have a shortage of health personnel, and staff available have demanding workloads across several health programs. In order to address these challenges, the BID Initiative introduced a comprehensive suite of interventions, including an electronic immunization registry aimed at improving the quality, reliability, and use of immunization data in Tanzania and Zambia. BID conducted a micro-costing study to estimate the economic costs of service delivery and logistics for the immunization programs with and without the BID interventions in a sample of health facilities and district program offices in each country. The full article can be found in the Pan African Medical Journal.Apr 10, 2020
Vietnam’s scale-up from a district-level pilot to a national-scale electronic immunization registry
PATH
Vietnam’s immunization registry system prior to 2009 was a paper-based logbook that was prone to errors, time-consuming, and burdensome for health workers. Starting in 2009, the Vietnam National Expanded Program on Immunization (NEPI) and their partner PATH began visualizing the possibilities and benefits that a national-scale electronic immunization registry (EIR) and vaccine-stock-management system could bring to Vietnam. In 2017, the National Immunization Information System (NIIS)—a sustainably planned, government-run, nationwide EIR system—was officially launched along with national mandates on system use. Much of the success of the scale-up of the Vietnam EIR can be attributed to three key factors: (a) planning for scale from the beginning, (b) commitment from the government, and (c) technical partnerships. The story of scaling up, however, did not come without challenges and hurdles. This case study reviews Vietnam’s journey from district pilot to national-level EIR.Mar 31, 2020
Perceptions of factors influencing the introduction and adoption of electronic immunization registries in Tanzania and Zambia: a mixed methods study
Implementation Science Communications
As technology has become cheaper and more accessible, health programs are adopting digital health interventions (DHI) to improve the provision of and demand for health services. These interventions are complex and require strong coordination and support across different health system levels and government departments, and they need significant capacities in technology and information to be properly implemented. Electronic immunization registries (EIRs) are types of DHI used to capture, store, access, and share individual-level, longitudinal health information in digitized records. The BID Initiative worked in partnership with the governments of Tanzania and Zambia to introduce an EIR at the sub-national level in both countries within 5 years as part of a multi-component complex intervention package focusing on data use capacity-building. We aimed to gather and describe learnings from the BID experience by conducting a framework-based mixed methods study to describe perceptions of factors that influenced scale-up of the EIR. Read the full article in Implementation Science Communications.Feb 25, 2020
The catalytic potential of rapid, iterative software development
PATH
Applications, eLMIS, Hardware, openMRS, Packaging, Practices, Products, Software, Standards, Tools
Zambia, Kenya, Pakistan
Nov 26, 2019
The costs of developing, deploying and maintaining electronic immunisation registries in Tanzania and Zambia
BMJ Global Health
Hardware, Immunization Registry, Packaging, Policies, Practices, Products, Software
Tanzania, Zambia
Nov 11, 2019
The impact of an integrated electronic immunization registry and logistics management information system (EIR-eLMIS) on vaccine availability in three regions in Tanzania: A pre-post and time-series analysis
Vaccine
Since 2016, the Government of Tanzania has been implementing TImR, an integrated Electronic Immunization registry-logistics management information system (EIR-LMIS) that includes stock notifications. Working in close partnership with the Government of Tanzania, PATH conducted a study to estimate the impact of this intervention on vaccine availability. The findings of this study were published in Vaccine.Oct 3, 2019
Three waves of data use among health workers: The experience of the Better Immunization Data Initiative in Tanzania and Zambia
Global Health: Science and Practice
The governments of Tanzania and Zambia identified key data-related challenges affecting immunization service delivery including identifying children due for vaccines, time-consuming data entry processes, and inadequate resources. To address these challenges, since 2014, the countries have partnered with PATH’s Better Immunization Data (BID) Initiative to design and deploy a suite of data quality and use interventions. Two key aspects of the interventions were an electronic immunization registry and tools and practices to strengthen a culture of data use. As both countries deployed the interventions, three distinct changes in data use emerged organically. This article provides a detailed summary of these three phases or waves, based mostly on qualitative data or observation: (1) strengthening data collection using new data collection tools and processes and increasing efficiency of health workers; (2) improving data quality regarding accuracy and completeness; and (3) increasing use of data to take action to strengthen their work and for programmatic decision making. These waves clearly demonstrated the growing ability of health workers to move from data collectors to data analyzers who began to focus on the data quality and then the value of using the data in their day-to-day activities. For the full article, visit Global Health: Science and Practice.Aug 8, 2019
Electronic immunization registries in Tanzania and Zambia: Shaping a minimum viable product for scaled solutions
Frontiers in Public Health
eHealth, Immunization Registry, People, Policies, Products
Tanzania, Zambia
Events
No Upcoming Events