IHRIS Software - Track, Manage, and Plan Your Health …



Report of the Pilot Test of the iHRIS system in the Northern Region of Ghana.

Supported by

WEST AFRICAN HEALTH ORGANISATION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Human Resource plays a critical role in the day to day smooth running of business in the world today. Firing and hiring of employees and their motivation as well as formulation of organizational policies and streamlining of business processes are major responsibilities of the Human Resource Department of an organization. To make Human Resource more responsive, efficient and effective in HR decision making in the advent of new technologies, an integrated Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is introduced.

A Human Resources Information System (HRIS) is a software or online solution for the data entry, tracking, and information needs of the Human Resources - payroll management, and performance management functions within a business. The system is normally packaged as a database, with different capabilities for the manager.

The Ministry of Health (MoH), which is one the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Government of Ghana aims to improve the health status and reduce inequalities in health outcomes of all people living in Ghana. The Mission of the Ministry is to “work in collaboration with all stakeholders in the Health sector to ensure good health and vitality and equitable access to quality health care services for all people in Ghana”.

To achieve this, the MoH set up the Human Resources Directorate to initiate policies to manage the health workforce of the country. The Directorate currently handles a portfolio of 72,000 personnel of different categories including technical and non-technical personnel.

Even though the Directorate has achieved significant success on various levels, there are challenges hampering the actualization of its mission namely;

• Mal-distribution of human resource, with critical staff skewed in favour of urban areas.

• Production of staff without reference to the HR needs of the country

• Poor Performance management and productivity measurement

• Welfare issues in relation to promotions, incentives, retirements and benefits.

The above problems are primarily due to the absence of an effective HR information system to guide relevant decision making in the sector. Currently the HR information available to the Ministry has the following limitations:

• The work location is often out of date. 

• There is no pressure to update because the salary does not change unless the grade changes.

• The information system is located in another MDA hence not always readily available when needed.

• It does not have the functionality to generate all reports required for effective HR management.

To help solve the HRH crisis, the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) proposed the use of the iHRIS (internet Human Resource Information System). This is a web enabled, server based, fully developed HR system designed for the health sector.  It was developed by The Capacity Project with financial support from USAID.   It is open source (source code is publically available) and uses a web server and database server on LINUX operating system. iHRIS Suite is made up of three components: one for registration, licensing and certification (Qualify); one for management of employees (Manage); and one for planning HRH development (Plan).

The MoH accepted to pilot test the Manage component in the Northern Region of Ghana.

IHRIS PILOT TEST

The main Objective of the pilot test was to determine the suitability of iHRIS for meeting the HRH information needs of the country.

Specifically, it was aimed at

• Determining the capacity of the system to accept the HR data generated in the country.

• Ascertaining the ability of the system to generate the needed reports and analysis required to effectively manage the HR situation in the country.

• Identifying potential problems associated with the use of the system

• Establishing the ease with which the system can be implemented in the country

Fifteen members of staff of MoH made up of 2 from MoH Headquarter (HQ), 2 from Human Resource Directorate, Ghana Health Service, HQ, 2 from Tamale Teaching Hospital and 7 from Northern Regional Health Directorate (NRHD), Tamale were trained by Prof. Kayode Odusote.

At the training members were taken through the various sub-modules of the system. This was followed by practical sessions in groups.

A team of three (HR Manager and two HR Officers of the NRHD) had the responsibility to implement the pilot test in collaboration with the Information Manager from MoH, HQ.

A new data entry form was developed and validated. The forms were distributed to all public health facilities in the Northern Region and completed forms were returned to the HR Department of NRHD.

Data entry into the system started on 5th January 2010 and ended on 9th April 2010. This was followed by data analysis and report generation.

Throughout the period of the pilot testing, the system required very little maintenance. The only system configuration was expanding the memory allocated for the database. There were no system crashes, virus attacks, lock-downs or data corruption. The database was successfully backed up.

OUTCOME

The outcome of the IHRIS Pilot Test was a remarkable success. In all, HR and IT staff were successfully trained in the use and administration of the system. The iHRIS appliance was easily installed into a network of five computers using both wireless and wired LANs. The wireless connectivity allowed access within a radius of about 150 meters which encompasses the office of the Regional Director of Health Services. The system was successfully customized and configured to suit the organizational structure of the Health Services of the Northern Region of Ghana.

Updated personal information on 2,445 staff of the Ghana Health Service from all the public facilities in the region were collected, verified and stored in the system. Information (location, type and name) on all health facilities in the region, both public and private were collected and stored in the system. Positions in all the public health facilities in the region were coded and stored as well.

Decision making reports required by the HR department was successfully generated by the system from the information stored. Customized reports were successfully created in addition to the in-built ones.

CONCLUSION

The pilot test revealed that the system has the capability of accepting and storing the HR data generated in the country. The memory allocation of the system is also more than enough to comfortably accommodate all the data on the health workforce of the country.

The system also provides a means of tying the data in it to file copies of information on employees. Thus a search of an employee in the system would give the exact location of the personnel files.

The system is also generally safe from virus attacks since it operates in a Linux environment which is known to be safe from virus attacks at present. All computers with web-browser can be used as long as they can be connected to the Appliance.

Security of the data in the system is assured since various levels of authentication are required for entry into the system. The system also gives different levels of authorization depending on the position of the person accessing the system.

The system was able to generate the necessary reports required to properly manage the HR situation of the country. It also allows the user the flexibility to design and create more customized reports on different areas of the human resources of the organization. These reports are then stored and automatically updated as the data in the system changes.

The system, if implemented, should be cost effective and sustainable in the long term. For national implementation, the system may require only a single appliance.

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