Abstract:
Abstract
Background: The establishment of a functional information system for human resource for health (HRH) was one
of the major challenges for the Tanzanian health sector. In 2008, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare developed the
HRH Strategic Plan, in which establishment of computerized information systems were one of the strategic objectives. In
response to this objective, the Ministry developed two information systems, namely the Human Resource for Health
Information System (HRHIS) and the Training Institution Information System (TIIS), to capture information from both the
public and private sectors.
Case description: The national rollout of HRHIS and TIIS was carried out in four phases during a 6 year period between
2009 and 2014. Together with other activities, the rollout process included conducting system operation training and data
utilization training for evidence-based planning, development and management of HRH and social welfare workers and
health training institutions.
Discussion: HRHIS was rolled out in all 25 regions of the Tanzanian mainland, including 171 districts, and TIIS was rolled
out in all 154 health training institutions and universities. Information is captured from both the private and public health
sectors with high-data coverage. The authors identified several key factors for the achievements such as using local
experts for developing the systems, involvement of system users, positive attitudes among users, focusing on routine
work of the system users and provision of operations and data utilization trainings. However, several challenges were
also identified such as getting a consensus on sustainable HR information systems among stakeholders, difficulty in
obtaining baseline HRH information, inadequate computer skills and unsatisfactory infrastructure for information and
communication technology. We learned that detailed situation analysis and understanding of the reality on the ground
helped to reduce the “design–reality gap” and contributed to establishing user-friendly systems and to improve
sustainability of the systems.
Conclusions: This paper illustrates the successful development and national rollout of two information systems
for HRH in Tanzania. The approaches used and activities conducted here and lessons learned could be useful for
countries which are planning to establish HR information systems.
Keywords: Human Resource for Health Information System (HRHIS), Training Institution Information System (TIIS),
Health training institutions, National rollout, United Republic of Tanzania
