Refining the Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) framework for data use at the local level:...

Foundational to a well-functioning health system is a strong routine health information system (RHIS) that informs decisions and actions at all levels of the health system. In the context of decentralization across low- and middle-income countries, RHIS has the promise of supporting sub-national health staff to take data-informed actions to improve health system performance. However, there is wide variation in how "RHIS data use" is defined and measured in the literature, impeding the development and evaluation of interventions that effectively promote RHIS data use.

An integrative review methodology was used to: (1) synthesize the state of the literature on how RHIS data use in low- and middle-income countries is conceptualized and measured; (2) propose a refined RHIS data use framework and develop a common definition for RHIS data use; and (3) propose improved approaches to measure RHIS data use. Four electronic databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 2009 and 2021 investigating RHIS data use.

A total of 45 articles, including 24 articles measuring RHIS data use, met the inclusion criteria. Less than half of included articles (42%) explicitly defined RHIS data use. There were differences across the literature whether RHIS data tasks such as data analysis preceded or were a part of RHIS data use; there was broad consensus that data-informed decisions and actions were essential steps within the RHIS data use process. Based on the synthesis, the Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) framework was refined to specify the steps of the RHIS data use process.

Conceptualizing RHIS data use as a process that includes data-informed actions emphasizes the importance of actions in improving health system performance. Future studies and implementation strategies should be designed with consideration for the different support needs for each step of the RHIS data use process.