The reliability and usability of district health information software: case studies from Tanzania

Abstract

Abstract:The District Health Information System (DHIS) software from the Health Information System Programme (HISP) based in South Africa is widely implemented in many developing countries as a health data analysis tool. Through the HISP Tanzania project, the DHIS was piloted in five districts in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to qualify and quantify the extent to which district health workers consider the adaptation of the DHIS software to the needs of the routine health management information system. In a period of 14 months (from June 2003 to August 2004) data were collected from health workers trained to use the software through a triangulation of various qualitative data collection techniques including interview, questionnaire, participant observations and retrospective testing. The software was evaluated in terms of reliability, usability and user satisfaction. In general the reliability of the software was rated high but its usability was rated to be low. The software was found not to accommodate some health data from various health programmes and there was a mismatch between the implemented online data entry forms/reports and their respective paper-based forms/reports. The study recommends improved design of the DHIS user interface (forms) and reports to replicate the paper-based forms in order to assure usability and reduce the incidences and impact of human errors in the keying-in of health data.

Factors influencing the uptake of cervical cancer screening services in Tanzania: A health system perspective from national and district levels

“…However, there has not been enough and continuous training on how to fully use the software to allow proper flow of information for successful implementation and provision of screening services. A study conducted in Tanzania revealed that most users complained that one week trainings were not enough for them as users to become familiar with the software (Lungo, ). A study on how to achieve and maintain high‐quality performance of health workers in low‐resource settings concluded that one of the factors leading to ineffective implementation of various health interventions in the health sector is poor dissemination of information (Rowe, De Savigny, Lanata, & Victora, ).…”

Research gaps in routine health information system design barriers to data quality and use in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A literature review

“…A study in India examined the architectural constraints that constituted a common problem across various HIS in the country at both national and state levels . Another study on reliability and usability of the District Health Information Software 2 in Tanzania recommended improvements in the user interface to reduce human errors in data entry . To assess viability, utilization, and effectiveness of a district HMIS, it was important to in‐build pre‐implementation, concurrent, and post‐implementation evaluation criteria .…”

“…29 Another study on reliability and usability of the District Health Information Software 2 in Tanzania recommended improvements in the user interface to reduce human errors in data entry. 34 To assess viability, utilization, and effectiveness of a district HMIS, it was important to in-build pre-implementation, concurrent, and post-implementation evaluation criteria. 35 These evaluation criteria would foster contextual design, an adaptive system, and alignment with user expectations.…”

Health facility-based data on women receiving sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine during pregnancy in Tanzania: lessons to learn from a cross-sectional survey in Mkuranga and Mufindi districts and other national survey reports

“…Therefore, the WHO has continued advising its member countries to ensure that they have properly functioning HMIS since having the accurately collected, analyzed and stored data could allow informed and rational policy decisions in the health sector to be made [1]. Thus, a proper planning for IPTp services is impossible in the absence of reliable sources of routine health service data mostly collected from HFs, and this is true for the general service data [1,2,28-30] and data for specific interventions like IPTp [18]. …”