@article {Belaye2100690, author = {Hiwot Belay and Afrah Mohammedsanni and Abebaw Gebeyehu and Hibret Alemu and Naod Wendrad and Biruk Abate and Wubshet Denboba and Frehiwot Mulugeta and Shemsedin Omer and Barbara Knittel}, title = {Lessons Learned From the Capacity-Building and Mentorship Program to Improve Health Information Systems in 11 Districts of Ethiopia}, volume = {10}, number = {Supplement 1}, elocation-id = {e2100690}, year = {2022}, doi = {10.9745/GHSP-D-21-00690}, publisher = {Global Health: Science and Practice}, abstract = {Key FindingsAs part of a collaborative capacity-building and mentorship program between 6 universities and the Ministry of Health, health facilities observed an improvement in the quality and use of health information system data across several tracer indicators.Establishing performance monitoring team meetings encouraged a data use culture for reviewing performance, identifying and solving problems, planning, and setting targets.Engaging a diverse group of experts from academia, regional health bureaus, and district health offices to build health worker capacity through training and mentorship was beneficial for improving the quality and use of health data.Key ImplicationAn academic-government collaborative capacity building and mentorship program is a promising approach to improving health information systems performance at the point of health care delivery. Building local ownership of the program, creating local mentors within the existing health system structure, and strengthening HIS expertise at universities are all essential for sustaining and expanding this model to other districts.Introduction:Health information systems (HIS) performance in Ethiopia is currently insufficient, and improvements are required to ensure that decision making is data driven. We share our experiences from the early-stage implementation of a package of HIS capacity-strengthening interventions as part of an innovative academic-government collaboration that addresses challenges in HIS performance.Methods:We used routine program data to assess HIS performance using the Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) assessment tools. The assessment employed a pre-post design and was conducted in a total of 24 selected health facilities (6 hospitals and 18 health centers) from 11 districts in Ethiopia at project baseline (2018) and midline (2020).Results:Source document completeness rate reached less than 80\% for the majority of the assessed data elements. Improvements were observed in quarterly report completeness (26\% vs. 83\%) and timeliness (17\% vs. 48\%). Though data inaccuracies are noted for all assessed data elements in 2020, the majority (83\%) of skilled birth attendance and HIV reports (68\%) fall within the acceptable range of reporting accuracy. The identification of performance-related problems, using performance monitoring team (PMT) meetings, improved between 2018 and 2020 (67\% vs 89\%). Similar improvements were also observed in developing action plans to solve identified problems via the PMT (52\% in 2018 vs. 89\% in 2020). Data use for planning and target setting (65\% in 2018 vs. 90\% in 2020), reviewing performance (58\% in 2018 vs. 60\% in 2020), and supervision (51\% in 2018 vs. 53\% in 2020) all improved among assessed health facilities.Discussion:This study showed that a capacity-building and mentorship program that engages experts from multiple disciplines and sectors can improve the quality and use of health data. This partnership enabled engagement between government and academic stakeholders and allowed for a more robust exchange of resources and expertise toward HIS improvement.}, URL = {https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/10/Supplement_1/e2100690}, eprint = {https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/10/Supplement_1/e2100690.full.pdf}, journal = {Global Health: Science and Practice} }