Publish Date: May 2018
Author: MCSP
Routine Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) are the backbone of monitoring service delivery programs at the national level in low- and middle-income countries. Several global initiatives, such as Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality, Every Newborn Action Plan, and Every Woman Every Child, have issued recommendations for core maternal and newborn health (MNH) indicators, including some that should be tracked at the global and national levels via routine HMIS. However, it is not well understood which countries are already collecting this information and which ones would need to revise their HMIS to track these indicators.
With this in mind, MCSP conducted a desk review of HMIS data collection and reporting forms in 24* USAID priority countries. The review aims to document the status of national HMIS capacity to track indicators on the content and quality of MNH services. Covering antenatal care, labor and delivery services, and postnatal care, it summarizes which data elements countries are collecting through their HMIS and in what format. It also discusses data elements within the context of recommended international standard measurements for MNH.
The current review builds on similar efforts completed under USAID’s predecessor flagship Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program, which included a review of HMIS data elements specific to antenatal care and labor and delivery care in 13** countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
* Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Yemen was excluded because of political instability. Additional HMIS reviews by MCSP are underway for family planning and child health content of national HMIS.
** Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe
Below are the key resources related to these reviews:
Resources
What Data on Maternal and Newborn Health Do National Health Management Information Systems Include?
Final report on the recently completed desk review of HMIS in 24 USAID priority countries
Survey on Data Availability in Electronic Systems for Maternal and Newborn Health Indicators in 24 USAID Priority Countries
2016 survey of 35 experts from 22 countries on the extent of HMIS data on maternal, newborn and postnatal care available in electronic format in the HMIS data elements
Preliminary Results of the HMIS Review from 8 Countries
Brief highlighting Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda; developed for dissemination at the Launch of the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health in Malawi in February 2017
Selected Results of the National HMIS Review from 24 Countries
Brief developed for dissemination at the World Health Organization Quality, Equity and Dignity (QED) Network; summarizes selected results with respect to which MNH data are being systematically collected at the facility level in the labor and delivery service area using registers, and which MNH data are reported to a higher level in the health information system (usually the district level) using facility monthly summary forms
Data Sharing: Power BI Dashboard
Data collected for the MNH HMIS review can be explored using a Power BI dashboard
(forthcoming) National HMIS Review of Child Health Data Elements
In-process MCSP review on data elements related to child health and nutrition in national HMIS in the 25 USAID priority countries, including forms and registers used at the facility and community levels
(forthcoming) National HMIS Review of Family Planning Data Elements
In-process MCSP review of facility reporting forms for data elements related to family planning (particularly postpartum family planning) in 17 USAID priority countries
