Feb 26, 2019
Redefining vaccination coverage and timeliness measures using electronic immunization registry data in low- and middle-income countries
Packaging, People, Policies, Practices, Products
Vaccine coverage is routinely used as a performance indicator for immunization programs both at local and global levels. For many national immunization programs, there are challenges with accurately estimating vaccination coverage based on available data sources, however an increasing number of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have begun implementing electronic immunization registries to replace health facilities’ paper-based tools and aggregate reporting systems. These systems allow for more efficient capture and use of routinely reported individual-level data that can be used to calculate dose-specific and cohort vaccination coverage, replacing the commonly used aggregate routine health information system data. With these individual-level data immunization programs have the opportunity to redefine performance measures to enhance programmatic decision-making at all levels of the health system. In this commentary, we discuss how measures for assessing vaccination status and program performance can be redefined and recalculated using these data when generated at the health facility level and the implications of the use and availability of electronic individual-level data.
Feb 20, 2019
A health worker’s journey: Oliver’s life after the BID Initiative
Packaging, People, Policies, Practices, Products
Oliver is a nurse in a busy, urban facility. She’d spend hours sifting through dense registry books to find which children were due for vaccination and ensuring she had enough stock. Once kids were immunized, Oliver and her team worked nights and weekends to report to the district. Unfortunately, the data went up, but rarely came back to help Oliver improve services. Through the BID Initiative, Oliver is a connected health worker motivated to use data to make her job easier.
Feb 20, 2019
BID Initiative Briefs: Recommendations and lessons learned
Packaging, People, Policies, Practices, Products
The BID Initiative is committed to sharing its learnings with others interested in improving immunization data quality and use. The following series of briefs summarizes our work alongside the governments of Tanzania and Zambia and our lessons and recommendations spanning seven key subject areas.
Dec 21, 2018
MMS Bulletin #148: Marrying engineering with health policy to bring digital health to scale
People, Policies, Practices, Products
Global
Just as medical doctors take the Hippocratic Oath as they graduate into their profession, so do many engineers solemnly promise to carry out work to the highest quality, recognizing that any errors may put lives at stake. Given this sharing of fundamental values, engineering is a profession that could be leveraged even further towards public health information systems to address opportunities created by the fusion of the early and relatively informal eHealth and mHealth paradigms into the more mature and complex one that is Digital Health. Recently, the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a key resolution on Digital Health, urging member states to assess and prioritise the scale-up of the implementation of digital technologies towards the “universal access to health for all” (WHA 71.1, 2018).
Dec 21, 2018
MMS Bulletin #148: The challenges of implementing a data use culture
People, Policies, Practices, Products
Global
To increase coverage and equity of routine immunization services, the government of Tanzania is strengthening the data use culture through the implementation of a package of data quality and use interventions, including an electronic immunization registry, for immunization service delivery. Three key phases for achieving scale as a government-owned model emerged during the implementation: user-centered design and testing, PATH-led implementation, and government-led implementation with scale-up. A combination of factors contributed to achieving a government-owned model of implementation and ultimately showed significant time and cost savings, as well as greater ownership and ability to sustain and scale the interventions.
Dec 17, 2018
The power of individual-level data to vaccinate every child
People, Policies, Practices, Products
Global
Digital health interventions have rapidly expanded our ability to record health data, which can lead to improved health systems and better decision-making. In this lightning talk from the Global Digital Health Forum 2018, Jessica Shearer, Acting Director of Health Systems Innovation and Delivery (HSID) at PATH, explains how individual-level data, like the data made available by electronic immunization registries in Tanzania and Zambia, can empower health workers to reach more children with life-saving vaccines.
Nov 28, 2018
BLN Webinar: Building Capacity in Immunization Data Quality and Use through Mentorship – Introducing the BID Regional Mentors
eHealth Plan, Peer Learning, People, Practices, Products
The BID Learning Network (BLN) invites you view a webinar presentation on “Building Capacity in Immunization Data Quality and Use through Mentorship: Introducing the BID Regional Mentors.” In its initial phase, between 2013 and 2018, the BID Initiative introduced a holistic package of interventions in Tanzania and Zambia that included information system products, data management policies, evidence-based practices, and capacity building to empower health workers at all levels of the health system toward data-driven action.
Nov 14, 2018
The BID Initiative Story
Applications, eHealth, eHealth Plan, Packaging, Peer Learning, People, Policies, Practices, Products
Tanzania, Zambia
The BID Initiative Story highlights the value of collaborative, country-driven planning; local leadership and ownership; user-centered design; and continuous learning and adaptation when developing and deploying innovations. It also shows why we are optimistic about our progress and future efforts to improve health services and outcomes across sub-Saharan Africa by transforming data collection, quality, and use.
Nov 14, 2018
Tanzania Immunization Registry Functional Requirements
Applications, eHealth, Immunization Registry, mHealth, Packaging, People, Products, Software
Tanzania
Nov 14, 2018
Zambia Electronic Immunization Registry User Manual
Applications, DHIS2, eHealth, mHealth, Packaging, People, Products, Training
Zambia