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I-TECH

Category: Health Information Systems

I-TECH Collaborates with Africa CDC to Enhance Public Health Informatics Capacity

Post categories: DIGI Ethiopia Health Information Systems Kenya Nancy Puttkammer Uncategorized Zambia
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From left to right: Bonheur Dounebaine, Senior Technical Officer for Public Health Workforce Development at Africa CDC; Anne Njoroge; Nancy Puttkammer; and Robert Oboko. Photo credit: DIGI/UW

In partnership with PATH, the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) and Digital Initiatives Group at I-TECH (DIGI) at the University of Washington (UW), are providing technical assistance to the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (Africa CDC) African Epidemic Service Public Health Informatics (AES-PHI) Fellowship.

The two-year fellowship will gather mid-career professionals working in computer science, information systems or public health  practice. Fifteen African fellows will be selected for the first cohort after a call for applications from Africa CDC.

“If recent epidemics of COVID-19, cholera, and mpox have taught us anything, it’s that diseases can easily cross borders and that decision makers and heath leaders in every country need information at their fingertips that allows them to take action to protect the health of their populations,” said Dr. Puttkammer.

“We need data systems that are robust, based on standards, that collect timely and accurate data and allow for the integration and visualization of these data so that it can feed into public health decision making,” she continued. “To get there, we first need the people who can lead and manage these systems.”

The AES-PHI fellowship is a part of three tracks: applied field epidemiology, public health informatics, and leadership in laboratory science. These fields are critically important to respond to both epidemics within countries and pandemics that cross borders—the fellowship will address working across these disciplines so that the best information can be brought to bear in solving public health challenges.

The PHI curriculum includes topics such as data collection methods, data systems, interoperability, data science and machine learning. The innovative training model is 80% practical and 20% instructional, delivered through virtual sessions and in-person training at Africa CDC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Practical learning intervals will be hosted at designated sites, including in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, and Zambia. Each fellow will be placed within a national health institute or ministry of health and have opportunities to apply their learning in practice.

The fellowship structure and curriculum are built on a series of consultative planning workshops with a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) convened by Africa CDC. The AES-PHI TAG includes representatives from Africa CDC, the Pan African Health Informatics Association (HELINA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PATH, UW, Resolve to Save Lives, the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), and numerous faculty members from African universities.

“Health informatics is a novel field of study in most African countries,” said Anne Njoroge, project lead for the DIGI/UW team and Africa TAG member. “As such, there is a clear gap in the number of highly skilled health informatics professionals, especially in the public sector. Accelerating the pipeline for these professionals through AES-PHI will be critical for digital transformation of public health in Africa.”

DIGI has worked with the TAG, Africa CDC workforce development team, PATH, and CDC to standardize competencies and develop and validate the AES-PHI curriculum for in-person and virtual learning. DIGI has also supported hosting of the curriculum within Africa CDC’s online learning management system, the AES-PHI application process, faculty recruitment, host site and mentor orientation, and program monitoring and evaluation.

“I have seen such great excitement among my colleagues across the African continent,” said Robert Oboko, faculty in the Department of Computing and Informatics at the University of Nairobi and Africa TAG member. “These trained professionals will lead the way toward strengthening health information systems across the African continent.”

 

IDASH Fellowship Launches in South America

Post categories: Health Information Systems IDASH Peru Peter Rabinowitz
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The IDASH South America fellowship cohort

On June 17, the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) South America Office, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Peru (MINSA), launched the Informatics and Data Science for Health (IDASH) fellowship in South America. The program was first implemented in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia with support from WHO EURO, with the first cohort graduating in April 2024, and adapted to the South American context.

The 12-month training will focus on developing a health workforce that is well-trained in digital health and understands health informatics and data system requirements to support public health functions. Thirty-four fellows from government agencies from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru are together in Lima, Peru, for two weeks for the first in-person workshop.

During the opening ceremony, Peru’s Vice Minister of Health Ricardo Peña Sánchez and Secretary of Government and Digital Transformation César Vílchez Inga reaffirmed the importance of this initiative to support advancing digital strategies for health in Peru, including interoperability of information systems. The development of a skilled workforce in health informatics and data science is also aligned with the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) efforts to advance digital health in the region, as highlighted by Sebastian García, Director of the Evidence and Intelligence for Health Action Department of PAHO (EIH/PAHO) during the opening.

During the second week of the in-person workshop, fellows will be joined by mentors from each participating country. The support from experienced mentors will enhance their learning experience and the application of the knowledge and skills acquired during the program.

Valdirene Montalvão, Information Systems Technician at the Brazilian Ministry of Health, has high expectations for her participation in the program. Through IDASH, “I will be able to learn and expand my skills to contribute more effectively to the process of monitoring, managing and evaluating for public health decision-making,” she says.

I-TECH Initiates IDASH in South America with Representatives from 5 Countries

Post categories: Health Information Systems Human Resources for Health IDASH Peter Rabinowitz Surveillance
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A group discusses the adaptation of the IDASH training model and structure, including the mentoring model. Photo courtesy of Maíra Pessoa/FVS-RCP.

Para mais informações sobre o encontro, em português, acesse Fundação de Vigilância em Saúde do Amazonas – Dra. Rosemary Costa Pinto.

At a February 5-8 meeting in Bogotá, the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) convened with global health leaders from 5 countries to inform the adaptation of the Informatics and Data Science for Health (IDASH) training program to South American contexts.

IDASH–part of I-TECH’s Integrated Next-generation Surveillance in Global Health: Translation to Action (INSIGHT) project–is a training program for current and future leaders in public health that aims to strengthen regional capacity to use public health information and data systems to improve health outcomes at the population level, detect and respond effectively to threats to public health, and promote health equity.

The objectives of the intensive, weeklong Executive Committee meeting included identifying priorities and key capabilities; adapting the structure of the IDASH course to local needs as well as government priorities and initiatives; and identifying government and academic resources to support teaching.

IDASH South America Director Fernanda Freistadt addresses the participants on Day 1 of the meeting. Photo courtesy of Maíra Pessoa/FVS-RCP.

In a a website post of IDASH partner Fundação de Vigilância em Saúde do Amazonas – Dra. Rosemary Costa Pinto, INSIGHT Regional Director for South America Fernanda Freistadt said: “This initiative has the potential to create health professionals who have advanced knowledge in both epidemiology and information technology, an area in which there is a great lack today. Furthermore, IDASH can strengthen technical relations and collaborations in the area of ​​surveillance between countries.”

The Executive Committee Meeting included representatives from Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Ecuador, as well as international partners including Georgia’s National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (which has been an important partner in the IDASH training program for Eastern Europe/Central Asia). It is anticipated that the South America expansion implementation to happen later this year.

IDASH Program Launches for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Region

Post categories: Global Health Security Health Information Systems IDASH One Health Surveillance Ukraine
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Participants gather for group discussion during the first IDASH in-person workshop in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo credit: CDC/EECA

On April 3, the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) launched the Informatics and Data Science for Health (IDASH) fellowship training program with an in-person workshop in Tbilisi, Georgia. The program launched in partnership with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CDC/EECA) Regional Office, the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe, and country governments.

The first IDASH cohort includes 20 fellows from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Participants include mid- to senior-level technical, analytical, and public health staff working at the national level in public health informatics or data science.

“After several whirlwind months of collaboration and engagement with stakeholders from the five countries, it’s amazing to welcome the first cohort of IDASH to Tbilisi for the first of three in-person workshops,” said Stacey Lissit, MPH, MS, Senior Technical Advisor for the IDASH program.

Fellows will participate in a 12-month in-service training program, in which each country team of four fellows will identify and develop a collaborative project. Fellows will receive sustained mentorship, and regional communities of practice will be established to ensure regional collaboration, share lessons learned and best practices, and establish linkages for future programming needs that span multiple countries.

“IDASH provides the opportunity to link learning to experience, and enables the application of new public health skills, knowledge, and techniques acquired from the training in a real-life context,” said Peter Rabinowitz, MD, MPH, Principal Investigator for the IDASH project. “It also extends benefits beyond the trainees to partner agencies and organizations, helping strengthen public health capacity in the region.”

Proposed fellowship projects include automating data analysis and visualization for diseases, expanding digital immunization registries beyond COVID-19, and developing spatial analysis modules for multi-disease surveillance and response.

“Today, the afternoon of the 4th day, the room is buzzing as the five country teams are hard at work: two engrossed in consultation with our facilitation team of public health informatics and data science experts about their country team projects; the others working on a data science methods exercise, practicing interpretation of descriptive and inferential statistics plots to assess trends in Hepatitis C,” said Ms. Lissit. “The energy and engagement have been high, and we’re looking forward to the next six days and the rest of the year-long fellowship.”

IDASH goals are to enhance capacity to create and use public health information systems that enable the capture, management, analysis, dissemination, and use of reliable, timely information to improve population-level health outcomes, as well as strengthen regional capacity to effectively respond to future global health challenges and pandemics.

“The COVID-19 pandemic made clear the importance of public health data systems that provide real time, accurate data on disease threats to allow for timely intervention and combatting of mis- and disinformation,” said Dr. Rabinowitz. “Programs like IDASH will help ensure there is a workforce prepared to detect, prevent, and respond to future global health threats.”

Story updated: April 11, 2023

Using Innovative Technology for Better Data in Zimbabwe

Post categories: eLearning/Distance Learning Health Information Systems Stefan Wiktor Zimbabwe
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The ZimPAAC consortium has supported high-quality health care worker (HCW) knowledge and skills in Zimbabwe with technologies such as applications with clinical resources for clinicians, tablet-based data collection, and self-study modules. Through the use of self-study courses, HCWs complete learning activities using case scenarios in either prevention of mother-to-child transmission client retention, HIV testing services for children and adolescents, or viral load testing. ZimPAAC also uses WhatsApp messaging groups as a training intervention during self-study for peer-to-peer learning and support. Tablet-based data collection has now become the norm for most sites.

ZimPAAC also continually works to strengthen its program monitoring systems, such as the deployment of TrainSMART as the national training database. Recently, ZimPAAC developed and introduced the ZimPAAC Data Improvement Plan (ZDIP)—a new system of electronic data collection tools that will improve reporting and give facility and district staff better access to data. The new digital forms in ZDIP offer built-in data quality checks, the ability to view graphs, and provides faster feedback to sites so they can use the data for facility-based improvements.

Two-Way Texting for Post-Operative VMMC Follow-Up RCT in Zimbabwe

Post categories: Caryl Feldacker Health Information Systems HIV Care and Treatment Male Circumcision Zimbabwe
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Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is considered safe and the vast majority of men heal without complication. However, guidelines require multiple follow-up visits, which can burden staff and facilities with clients who are typically healing well. With funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ZAZIC recently conducted a prospective randomized control trial (RCT) to determine if two-way texting (2wT) was as safe as routine post-operative visits and if it reduced workload in two high-volume VMMC sites near Harare, Zimbabwe.

Image of the 2wT App used to support the study.

Both clients and providers felt satisfied with the 2wT system and felt it could be ready for scale. Many clients reported feeling confident, comfortable, satisfied, and safe with text follow-up. Importantly, clients felt that 2wT saved them time and money. Providers also noted 2wT saved them time, empowered their clients to engage in the healing process, and addressed gaps in MC service quality.

The results strongly suggest that 2wT is highly usable and acceptable for providers and patients. Men with concerns appeared confident and comfortable to receive guidance via text and providers noted that men engaged proactively in their healing.

It was recommended in the study that 2wT between providers and patients should be considered for future adaptation in other short-term care contexts. 2wT also appears far less expensive than active follow-up to improve patient safety: on average, post-VMMC follow-up under 2wT was $0.098 compared to $0.955 under routine care. 2wT was both less costly and more effective in identifying AEs relative to the expected rate of AEs.  As such, I-TECH aims to scale 2wT in further testing among rural clients and guardians to improve patient care at lower cost.

The trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, trial NCT03119337, and activated on April 18, 2017. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03119337. This RCT was supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21TW010583.

Jan Flowers

Jan Flowers, MS

Jan Flowers, MS, is a Clinical Faculty member and Research Scientist in the University of Washington School of Nursing, and is faculty co-lead of the Digital Initiatives Group at I-TECH (DIGI). Her area of focus is on innovative strategies and technologies for healthcare systems strengthening in resource constrained settings through appropriate electronic collection and use of quality health data for evidence-based decision making.

She has led informatics organizations and teams for over 20 years, focused on technology policy and law, health information systems evaluation and maturity modeling, open source communities of practice building, health technology engineering and implementation, patient centered technologies and mHealth, and standards-based interoperability for improved care at the point of service, surveillance, and program monitoring.

Ms. Flowers serves on the board of directors for both OpenMRS and OpenELIS Foundations, and the founder of the OpenHIE LIS Community of Practice, which develops and shares common standards and best practices amongst the open-source LIS community. She holds an MS in Health Law & Policy from the University of California San Francisco jointly with UC Hastings Law School, and a BS in Psychology from the University of Washington.

Program Highlights

Creating a Data Warehouse to Support COVID-19 Surveillance in Mauritius
The Digital Initiatives Group at I-TECH (DIGI) worked closely with the Mauritius Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) to implement a national laboratory information system (LIMS) using OpenELIS and expanded it to create a national-level data warehouse. The data warehouse captures all the information that has been input into OpenELIS ...
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Digitizing HIV Case Management to Support Patient-Centered Care in Jamaica
In collaboration with the Caribbean Training and Education Center for Health (C-TECH), Jamaica Ministry of Health and Wellness, JASL, and technical working group members, the Digital Initiatives Group at I-TECH (DIGI) is supporting the development and implementation of a mobile health client engagement tool in Jamaica.  The tool facilitates communication ...
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Implementing a National Laboratory Information System in Mauritius
Since 2020, the Digital Initiative Group at I-TECH (DIGI)  has worked closely with the Mauritius Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) to deploy a national laboratory information management system (LIMS) using the OpenELIS platform. The LIMS connects the national reference laboratory to regional laboratories and flu clinics around the country ...
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Optimizing the COVID-19 Testing Process at the Airport in Mauritius
As a measure to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Mauritius began requiring that all arriving passengers submit to COVID-19 health screenings upon arrival in Mauritius. To rapidly process the influx of tests and quickly notify passengers of their results, the Digital Initiatives Group at I-TECH (DIGI) ...
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HIS Strategic Planning in Cameroon

Post categories: DIGI Health Information Systems Health Policy Leadership & Management Nancy Puttkammer
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National strategies, policies, and governance define the implementation environment for health information systems (HIS) and are recognized as a foundational building block for health system goals, including universal health coverage and control of HIV and other infectious diseases. I-TECH is supporting Cameroon’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to develop a national eHealth strategic plan by September 2019. A goal of the project will be to develop governance structures and processes, which can continue onward beyond the strategic planning process under MOH leadership, for on-going strategic direction, coordination, and oversight of investments in the national HIS.

National Data Warehouse and Dashboards in Botswana

Post categories: Botswana DIGI Health Information Systems Nancy Puttkammer
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I-TECH has worked with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other implementing partners in Botswana to develop and implement robust national health information system that enable greater efficiency and accountability and strategic use of information. I-TECH’s work on the National Data Warehouse ensures the availability of strategic information to monitor progress toward reaching epidemic control, with particular focus on Treat All, linkages to care, and HIV clinical cascade for 90-90-90 care continuum.

Using Data to Improve Health Service Delivery in Malawi

Post categories: eLearning/Distance Learning Gabrielle O'Malley Health Information Systems Malawi Nursing/HCW Cadres
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The Kuunika Project: Data for Action was a four-year program implemented by a consortium of organizations, including the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH), that began in 2016 to improve healthcare service delivery through the effective use of data. Consortium activities aimed to improve data systems, data use, and data governance in five districts throughout Malawi. I-TECH’s main focus was to build the capacity of healthcare workers (HCWs) to access, manage and use health data in high-burden HIV/AIDS facilities and communities.

I-TECH conducted an HCW training needs assessment with support from the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2017. Using the assessment data, I-TECH collaborated with MOH, district health teams, local university representatives, and subject matter experts to design and develop a training curriculum that was piloted in 2018.

In January 2019, I-TECH rolled out a national training comprised of seven-day, in-person workshops and complementary eLearning modules with the goal of establishing a culture of data use, a strong base of high-quality data, and improve the availability of high-quality information to decision makers with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes. The eLearning program, Building Effective Health Information Systems, is comprised of seven modules that introduce frontline healthcare workers and managers to health information systems. The modules include:

  1. Introduction to Health Information Systems
  2. Health Information Systems: Data Management Concepts
  3. Using EMR Data for Decision Making
  4. Improving and Maintaining the Quality of EMR System Data
  5. Logic Models and System Classification
  6. Overview of System Architecture
  7. Introduction to Interoperability at the Facility Level.

An average of 150 HCWs per district were trained for an overall total of more than 800 HCWs trained across the country.

In May 2019, I-TECH launched a mentorship program designed to bridge the gap between training and practice, and to help participants apply their newly gained knowledge on the job. By the end of Phase 1, the I-TECH team had oriented over 100 district mentors to the mentorship program and tools. I-TECH’s role in the consortium concluded in August 2019 when Phase 1 of the Kuunika Project ended.