Nakuru to transit to digitized community health services

Nakuru,

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

KNA by Anne Mwale 

Nakuru County has kicked off transition to an electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS) to boost community health promoters’ (CHPs’) work. 

The CHPs will transit from analogue to digital reporting, using electronic gadgets after gaining proficiency through technical training.

Chief officer in charge of Public Health Ms Alice Abuki indicated that over 2,000 CHPs will use the gadgets to aid household registration, patient screening, treatment and referrals and help advocate primary health practices.

 “We will train all Community Health Promoters following the successful distribution of tablets, which will facilitate the implementation of the digital system. The trainings will be conducted at the ward levels across different community units in all the 11 Sub-Counties,” stated Ms Abuki. 

The Electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS) is a national project that was launched a year ago by the Ministry of Health that comprises a SmartHealth Mobile Phone application, built on Medic’s Community Health Toolkit (CHT) platform.

The training according to the Chief Officer will equip the CHPs with information, skills and knowledge on how to enhance service delivery with the aid of eCHIS.

She was speaking during a meeting between county health officials and representatives from the Country Health Information Systems and Data Use Project (CHISU) to discuss the devolved unit’s transition to electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS).

“The purpose of this training is to ensure CHPs are brought on board and understand their roles and responsibilities when it comes to community health promotion in their communities and also equip them with information and skills to navigate the eCHIS,” said Ms Abuki. 

US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Country Health Information Systems and Data Use (CHISU) program supports Kenya’s digital health transformation by building up and fortifying the technology, software, and information systems used by the Ministry of Health and everyone working in the health system to deliver more affordable, higher-quality care.

This includes training healthcare workers to collect, analyze, and use data through standardized, unified systems that help them make data-driven decisions about improving healthcare for patients

The officer added that the eCHIS training program will encompass a wide array of topics, ranging from data entry and patient registration to advanced analytics and reporting functionalities.

“By leveraging technology to its fullest potential, healthcare workers will be able to access real-time patient/ Community information, track health trends, and identify potential outbreaks promptly,” she said

 Ms Abuki observed that the analogue system was expensive for the county government, rendered data vulnerable and data could easily get lost. But with the digitized system, the official stated data entry is easy, data can be traced and is credible.

CHPs have been moving around with bulky books to take note of the data, but with smart phones, it will be easy to load the information into the county health data system.

According to the official eCHIS is equipped with a mobile app that is interactive and has guidelines and questionnaires, where the CHVs fill in patients’ information. The app also has procedures for various treatments.

She further cited that the system is set to transform the way patient data is collected, managed, and shared, ultimately enhancing healthcare outcomes and improving patient experiences.

This comprehensive system not only streamlines administrative tasks, but also fosters seamless communication among Community Health Providers, resulting in more coordinated and personalized care for the community.

 “Supervisors work will be eased as they will be able to view what CHPs are doing and give tailored support, even remotely,” said the Chief Officer.

 The National Government intends to create a unified national electronic community health information system whose 100 per cent adoption by the 47 counties will be done by 2025.

While presenting a justification for the project the Ministry of Health indicated that the paper based old system was cumbersome and the community-based information tools were often out of stock. It also noted that there has been inefficient data collection, analysis and reporting. The paper based tools have also been costly, resulting in delay in timely data submission

Through this system, the CHVs will register family members from their locality. These data and medical records would then be available at local health centres for use in case of any sicknesses.

In an executive summary to the National Community Health Digitization Strategy 2020-2025, the Acting Director General of Health, Dr. Patrick Amoth says the ministry was responding to the gaps identified in Community Health service delivery and data management.

In addition, he said the project was anchored on the National Strategy for Community health digitization, which seeks to strengthen health data management systems in the country.

An Administrator at CHISU Ms Purity Omondi noted that the initiative will help address the inefficiencies that have dogged the primary health care sector.

“You cannot successfully provide health care without real-time data and accurate information from patients. This project will eliminate the use of exercise books by patients seeking treatment in health facilities,” said Ms Omondi, adding that, “universal health care can only succeed with a data driven sound health care system. Without data harvested through a sound health care system, it will be like climbing a tree from the top.”

Courtesy ; K. N. A