Abstract

Application of Geographic Information Systems to improve reporting rat
Track: Public Health
Authors: Maurice Obuya

Keywords:
Geographical information systems [GIS], reporting rates and timeliness
Issue:
Analysis of MOH 731 reporting rates from the District Health Information System (DHIS) conducted in June 2012 for 32 APHIAplus Nuru Ya Bonde project supported-districts indicated low reporting rates. During this time 44% of supported districts reported on both HTC and PMTCT while only 36% reported on ART. Another 33% and 27% of districts reported on time for PMTCT/HTC and ART datasets respectively.
Description of the intervention:
In July 2012, results from the analysis were presented using GIS maps during a joint performance review meeting with District Health Information Officers (DHRIOs). Graduated coloured maps were used to display comparisons of reporting rates and timeliness across districts for HTC, ART and PMTCT. The maps illustrated district performance ranking making it easy for each DHRIO to visually gauge their performance against the rest. The meeting discussed individual district reporting rates, and identified contributing factors to the performance. All DHRIOs agreed to meet a minimum reporting rate of 50% by September 2012 and 95% by December 2012. A performance recognition mechanism was initiated to reward districts with improved performance.
Lessons learned:
Visual GIS maps presented during the performance meeting heightened DHRIOs’ interest and created internal competition. By the end of September 2012, reporting rates for HTC, PMTCT and ART had increased to 84%, 81%, and 78% respectively. Timeliness for HTC, PMTCT, and ART improved to 81%, 78% and 73% respectively.
Next steps:
As a result, APHIAPlus Nuru Ya Bonde has embarked on scaling up the application of GIS to monitor reporting rates, performance and data quality for facility and community health based interventions.