Partners & Collaborators
The following organizations and communities have made significant contributions to iHRIS. These groups are pioneers in capacity building. They champion the value of free and open source health information software and work to increase the visibility of these software projects.
HIRG: Health Workforce Information Reference Group
In March 2010, WHO's Department of Human Resources for Health, the Global Health Workforce Alliance, and the Health Metrics Network jointly called for the establishment of a Health Workforce Information Reference Group (HIRG) to promote a coordinated, harmonized, and standardized approach to strengthening the global evidence base on HRH. The iHRIS team collaborates with HIRG to use health workforce information for informing country-level policy, planning, and management. This is made possible by the establishment of a global reference group for health workforce information and the formation of a Global Community of Practice.
AMIA: American Medical Informatics Association
AMIA seeks to transform health care through trusted science, education, and the practice of informatics. Our work with AMIA involves the use of Health Informatics Building Blocks (HIBBs) to build simple technology. Together, we teach the importance of capacity building to the success of health information systems around the globe. We are currently using the HIBBS model developed by AMIA and OpenMRS to frame our training materials for capacity building.
HISP: Norwegian Research Council/University of Oslo/Health Information Systems Programme
HISP develops and implements integrated health management information systems for routine data, semi-permanent data, and survey data. Its DHIS2 software is a tool for collection, validation, analysis, and presentation of aggregate statistical data, tailored (but not limited) to integrated health information management activities. The DHIS2 software is developed by HISP as an open and globally distributed process, with developers in India, Vietnam, Tanzania, Ireland, and Norway. The software is implemented at the national level in many countries in Africa and Asia, such as India, Vietnam, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. We work closely with HISP to ensure there is interoperability between iHRIS and DHIS2, and we collaborate on specific country health information systems strengthening work, as well as regional workshops and training.
OpenMRS: Regenstrief Institute/University of Indiana
The Open Medical Record System (OpenMRS) is open source software focused on creating medical record systems and a corresponding implementation network to allow system development self-reliance within resource-constrained environments. We collaborate with OpenMRS to support the use of information to strengthen health development and interoperability of global open source health information system (HIS) software. Together, we promote multi-organization collaboration through regional workshops and training on open source for global health. Our shared objectives are to support the use of information to strengthen health decisions and services at the facility level and teach the importance of local capacity building to the success of HIS. These objectives are achieved through the alignment of development, infrastructure, and capacity building efforts worldwide and through specific country HIS strengthening efforts focusing on linking OpenMRS and iHRIS.
The Health Metrics Network (HMN) is the first global partnership dedicated to strengthening national health information systems (HIS). As a country-owned and partner-driven platform, HMN mobilizes partners to strengthen HIS and increase the availability of information for decisions to improve health outcomes. Our work with HMN includes collaborative development of reusable HRIS requirements that can be adapted at the country level and aligned with the emerging HMN Framework for HIS. Our partnership with HMN involves multi-organization collaboration on regional workshops and training on open source for global health. Through this partnership, we seek to improve the use of routine HIS to strengthen health services.
MEPI: Medical Education Partnership Initiative
The Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) will support medical education and research in sub-Saharan African institutions. The purpose of this support is to increase the quantity, quality, and retention of graduates with specific skills addressing the health needs of their national populations. The MEPI Coordinating Center is interested in adapting iHRIS to track MEPI graduates.