VILLAGEREACH IS A NON-­‐PROFIT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE THAT BELIEVES EVERY INDIVIDUAL DESERVES ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTHCARE. OUR MISSION IS TO SAVE LIVES AND IMPROVE HEALTH BY INCREASING ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTHCARE FOR REMOTE, UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. WE COLLABORATE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND OTHER GLOBAL HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS TO EXTEND THE REACH OF HEALTH SERVICES IN MEASURABLE, SCALABLE, AND SUSTAINABLE WAYS. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES IN GLOBAL HEALTH. In the past 40 years, more than $3.4 trillion has been invested to address the disease burden and resulting poverty of developing nations. To that end, governments and non-­‐
governmental organizations (NGOs) have applied significant resources to develop new medical products, technologies, and treatments directed at the healthcare needs of people in middle-­‐ and low-­‐income countries. Huge progress has been made, yet the health systems in many of the countries remain ineffective, inefficient, and incapable of handling the increases in throughput required to deliver life-­‐saving interventions. As much as 80% of developing country populations live in rural areas without reliable communications access. This presents a challenge for information management systems that rely heavily on technologies originally developed for connected, urban settings. INFORMATION SYSTEMS CAPABILITIES Robust health system performance depends on adequate information and communications support. VillageReach defines requirements for and conducts evaluations of information and communication technology (ICT) systems, and develops communications solutions and health information systems that increase health worker capacity and improve health system efficiency. VillageReach’s use of Internet and mobile applications provides health systems with critical support for personnel to ensure effective information capture, reporting and data-­‐driven decision-­‐
making. ASSESSING USERS’ NEEDS AND DETERMINING FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS. With staff expertise in public health informatics and technical system design, VillageReach assesses user and systems requirements for ICT infrastructure in low-­‐income countries. VillageReach evaluates architecture and technology trade-­‐offs to optimize a system’s efficiency and effectiveness while maintaining compatibility with available power and telecommunications networks, as well as, the available human and financial resources. VillageReach also serves as a technical advisor to health systems and as a partner to communications service providers by evaluating gaps in ICT infrastructure relevant to the delivery of health services. DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF ELECTRONIC LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS. VillageReach designs, develops and deploys electronic logistics management information systems (eLMIS). eLMIS developed by VillageReach are designed to support the reliable and secure collection of data from diverse points in the health system. The eLMIS – able to function in connected and disconnected environments – tracks information on requisitioning, inventory levels, stock outs and order quantities in order to support the optimal allocation of limited resources and also improve evidence-­‐based decision-­‐making. BUILD AND IMPLEMENT MOBILE APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES. To support the collection of data, the dissemination of information and facilitate data-­‐driven decision-­‐making, VillageReach builds and implements mobile applications that extend the reach of quality health services in remote and underserved communities. These applications are engineered to utilize available communications services (e.g., SMS, MMS). Leveraging international and local software development talent allows VillageReach to be both fast and agile in its ability to produce, deploy, and optionally manage innovative and customized solutions. ADVOCATE AND SUPPORT OPEN-­‐SOURCE SOLUTIONS FOR GLOBAL HEALTH. As part of its broader commitment to support efficient and effective logistics for global health, VillageReach coordinates the collaboration of international stakeholders – including NGOs and governments – to develop open-­‐source software solutions for global health challenges. Under the OpenLMIS initiative, VillageReach also helps maintain an Internet repository of publicly available, free, open-­‐source, logistics management software and related resources, to foster a community that shares in the ongoing evolution and dissemination of open-­‐source software that improves health sector performance in the developing world. INFORMATION SYSTEMS GROUP INITIATIVES OPENLMIS. OpenLMIS is a collaboration of domain experts in logistics and supply chains, eHealth information systems, software development for low-­‐resource settings, and process improvement that seeks to collect and share reusable resources for eLMIS and to create an open-­‐source eLMIS platform. Like other open initiatives, the intention is to ensure openLMIS becomes the place for sharing information about eLMIS planning, requirements and system design, promoting interoperability between systems and galvanizing interest in a shared vision for effective, scalable and sustainable solutions. ODK SCAN. VillageReach and the University of Washington are conducting an innovative global health and development research project: Digitizing Paper-­‐Based Data via Mobile Image Technologies. The project is demonstrating the use of a new mobile data capture technology that is effective, efficient, improves data quality and accelerates the availability at which data can be made available to health works and decision makers at all levels of the health system. ODK Scan is a part of the widely used Open Data Kit (ODK) suite of tools. CHIPATALA CHA PA FONI (HEALTH CENTER BY PHONE). Working with the Malawian Ministry of Health, VillageReach developed and implemented an ICT program to increase access to an essential package of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services. This program includes a case-­‐management hotline for health advice and referral, and uses mobile phones to send personalized health messages to women regarding their pregnancy and the health needs of their children. VRMIS. vrMIS is a eLMIS that addresses the unique challenge of efficiently tracking and reporting on the performance of health systems in low-­‐income countries. Currently operating in Mozambique, vrMIS enables health systems to monitor and analyze supply chains to ensure the appropriate types and quantities of vaccines, medicines, and equipment required for rural health centers are available when and where they are needed. It ensures real-­‐time tracking to enable critical decision-­‐making by health system administrators and frontline workers. The platform is in use across four provinces, addressing a population of approximately six million. MEDICINES FOR MALARIA VENTURE (MMV) SMS PROJECT. In Malawi, VillageReach developed an SMS-­‐to-­‐
Internet data system to track the distribution of malaria drugs from private and public dispensaries. The system enabled MMV to monitor the type, amount and price of various malaria drugs from any Internet-­‐
connected device. vrMIS MOZAMBIQUE LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM ODK SCAN DIGITIZING PAPER-­‐BASED DATA VIA MOBILE IMAGE TECHNOLOGIES CHIPATALA CHA PA FONI (HEALTH CENTER BY PHONE) CONTACTS Seattle Mozambique Ron Pankiewicz, Technology Director, Information Leah Hasselback, Country Director Systems Group Malawi Kate Waldman, Technology Manager Jessica Crawford, Program Manager WWW.VILLAGEREACH.ORG 2900 EASTLAKE AVE E., SUITE 230, SEATTLE, WA 98102 USA, TEL: +866.203.3175. EMAIL: INFO@VILLAGEREACH.ORG