Implementing electronic decision-support tools to strengthen healthcare network data-driven decision-making

Area of Science:

• Public Health Informatics
• Health Systems Strengthening
• Digital Health Implementation

Background:

• Low- and middle-income countries often struggle with inadequate data for healthcare decision-making.
• The Ministry of Health in Chiapas, Mexico, faced challenges in timely, quality data collection for healthcare networks.
• The Salud Mesoamerica Initiative aimed to improve health system performance through data-driven approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and implement electronic decision-support tools for data-driven healthcare management.
• To enhance the collection, analysis, and utilization of health facility data.
• To support quality improvement initiatives in maternal and child health services.

Main Methods:

• Developed three iterative electronic tools for data collection, compilation, analysis, and stratified sampling.
• Focused on streamlined implementation for rapid adoption and use.
• Utilized Quality Assurance Teams for data validation, result evaluation, and quality improvement support.
• Collected data on availability of equipment, medicines, and supplies for five composite indicators.

Main Results:

• Data from 300 health facilities across four districts were analyzed between November 2014 and June 2015.
• Initial data revealed significant gaps in essential equipment and supplies in over half of facilities.
• Electronic tools enabled visualization of data, pattern identification, and hypothesis generation for root-cause analysis.
• Subsequent measurements showed a decrease in missing items and more proactive quality improvement actions.
• By the final measurement, 89.7-100% of facilities met targets for all required indicators.

Conclusions:

• Electronic decision-support tools effectively facilitated data-driven decision-making at various administrative levels (facility to state).
• The rapid improvement process, supported by these tools, enabled the Ministry of Health to meet externally verified indicator targets.
• Leveraging existing information technology infrastructure promoted swift implementation and user adoption.
• This experience offers a valuable model for other low- and middle-income countries seeking to implement similar digital health solutions.