With the existence of EMRs for over 10 years and the vast amount of data contained therein, there was need to create useful information outputs to inform various programmatic needs. HIV program data needs have shifted over time to a more critical focus. Over the years there has been an unprecedented shift in demand for health data and a recognition of the value of data to improve health outcomes in Kenya. To meet this demand, the KeHMIS Project has been focused on strengthening the data value chain, through strengthening data demand, and by increasing capacity of a wide range of users to adopt and use health information systems (HIS) to inform HIV programming. Increasingly, data previously locked in paper systems are now available electronically for easy distribution and analysis at all levels. Additionally, with the growing number of implementations accessing electronic Health Information Systems and human capacity to manage digital tools there has been a keen focus on how to utilize this data. KeHMIS as a key HIS implementing partner has continued to build and strengthen systems through addressing the missing components of Kenya’s HIS landscape to support the prevailing and arising clinical and strategic information (SI) needs for HIV Response and to extend the delivery of quality health services.
With the increase in strategic programmatic objectives and other emerging needs, KeHMIS has leveraged on its ability to answer various questions through the development of flexible and context appropriate processes and systems that deliver individual level data outputs to drive impact and effectively monitor HIV care and treatment outcomes. These solutions leverage on data sent from disparate systems at the facility level all the way to the national level through interoperability and integration to add value to the data and in achieving the idealized Global and PEPFAR (Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) standards of Data value chain (Open Data Watch) that describes the evolution of data from collection to analysis, dissemination, and the final impact of data on decision making.
As data grows and the HIV program matures in its strategies, there is constant addition of levels of data needs. In line with the PEPFAR data value chain above, the primary data collection tools for the data are the EMRs and HTS applications. Data needs are translated into system requirements and enhancements towards achieving desired impacts. The data is then processed through ETL processes via an API (DWAPI) and sent to the National repository (National Data Warehouse). Several data quality checks have been enhanced both at the entry (EMR), extraction (DWAPI) and processing (NDWH) stages to ensure that data in the national repository is accurate. At the warehouse level, data is analyzed and presented via dashboards, bulletins, newsletters, and slide decks. The published products continually offer insights to meet various strategic needs like annual cohort analysis (2017 2018), COP (Country Operational Plan) planning (19 & 20), COP priorities monitoring, ART optimization, linkage progress etc. These products have been up taken to guide in program implementation documentation & changes and dependencies on data to inform ground truths.
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