News & Updates

As evaluations of our HRIS strengthening work are being conducted, we are finding that strengthened HR information systems are having a notable positive impact on the transparency of HR information. In Swaziland, for example, the transition from the old to the newer HRIS improved transparency of the hiring process. As one statistical staff person explains, the system “closes the feedback loop.” The complex sequence of steps involved in...

This technical brief, published by the Capacity Project, describes the human resources management context, best practices, HRM’s role in the health sector and improving HRM technical assistance for the health sector. Read the full technical brief "Human Resources Management in the Health Sector" on the Capacity Project's website.

Credentialing of health care providers is an integral component in building and sustaining robust human resources for health (HRH) systems. Credentialing mechanisms such as licensure, registration and certification are among the most frequently used quality assurance tools in health care. iHRIS Qualify, one component of our iHRIS Suite of HR information systems, supports licensure and certification authorities by enabling them to more easily...

Botswana is the newest country where we are implementing our HRIS strengthening process. Like many of the countries in Africa, Botswana is experiencing a shortage of health workers. However, due to a lack of timely, reliable and accurate data about the number and skill mix of health workers, the gap between the country’s current resources and those required to address healthcare needs is unknown. Furthermore, decision-makers do not have the...

The HRIS Strengthening team has need of programming interns to contribute to our iHRIS open source development project. Interns may program new features, improve user interface designs, write documentation, test for and fix bugs, or complete other jobs based on need and interest. Interns will work closely with our development team and will receive training and support. Familiarity with PHP is required; knowledge of MySQL, Javascript and/or CSS...

Capacity Namibia recently completed a connectivity pilot in three regions (Erongo, Hardap and Khomas) to link the central human resources information management system located in the Office of the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Health and Social Services’ regional HR offices. To facilitate the work, the Project donated computer equipment to the central level and the three regions. The connectivity initiative will be rolled out to six...

Today marks the first day of the four-day East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) Regional Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM) Workshop that the HRIS Strengthening team is hosting in Arusha, Tanzania. Participants from Rwanda, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Southern Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and the World Health Organization are attending.The objectives of this Workshop are: Share lessons learned and experiences about...

Building public health information systems is part of the umbrella of eHealth. But what is eHealth exactly (except perhaps another buzzword)?In its broadest defnition, eHealth refers to any initiative that uses information and communications technologies (ICT) to deliver health care services. From the California Telemedicine and eHealth Center: The common goal of any TM/eH application is to increase access and ease of health care, especially for...

When developing the iHRIS software, we follow an iterative software development cycle. Iterative development is a process that supports development of a system incrementally. The process builds in regular and frequent cycles for feedback from stakeholders based on reactions by end users to a working, although incomplete, system. This enables the development team to deepen their learning and understanding of the system as development progresses...

Over the past three years, the Capacity Project has been working with the Christian Social Services Commission of Tanzania (CSSC) to develop a health facility and human resources geographic information system (GIS). The system contains program, equipment and community data on 850 faith-based facilities and is linked with a database on over 14,000 health workers. CSSC is now using it to support personnel records management, resource analysis and...