What characteristics of systems are needed
to generate information for medicines
benefits policy and program decisions?
Facilitator/presenter: Ricardo Kettledas, National
Department of Health, South Africa
Rapporteur: Katelyn Payne, MSH
Which elements are crucial to capture in evolving care delivery and financing
information systems for managing medicines benefits?
• There needs to be a link between Health Care Systems and Financing
Systems.
• Donors need to coordinate with public sector, private sector, and other
funders.
• Financing requires info. on budget and patient expenditures out of pocket.
• Info. that is needed: (also with proper coding)
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Patient unique identifier and diagnosis
Type of facility and services
Drug utilization
Adherence to treatment
Adverse events/reactions
Household data
Outcomes
Demographic data on patients
How do current or proposed information systems facilitate
generating information for medicines benefit decisions?
• Current Systems
– Manual registers
– Zambia: HMI, case mgmt, Smartcare (CDC), IFMIS
– Malawi: IFMIS, logistics (supply chain) mgmt., DHIS
• Proposed Systems
– South Africa: Biometric system, National ID Systems
– Other systems: access to social assistance/welfare programs, coordination b/w
systems as patients move, cell phone use for data reporting
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Big need for decision support systems
“Big gap” in vital statistics
New systems should be open-source
Need to learn from the private sector to improve public sector
Make sure the right people have access to data collected
HR Gap needs to be addressed
What technical and human resources as well as governance approaches are
needed to facilitate use of information from systems to inform medicines
benefits?
• Technical: Interoperability, network capacity, innovative
data collection methods (Cell phones), move to web-based
system (connectivity) from paper or single computer
• Human resources: track movement of skilled workers, IT
support, Database managers, capacity building of staff
• Governance approaches: data protection policies, ethics
(formalize through governance), access to information on
the primary level, tools to implement policies, know who
has access, risk management plans and business continuity
and disaster recovery
• These three aspects must all talk to each other.