In Kenya, health care leaders needed an information system that could help track and manage new health workers hired through an Emergency Hiring Plan, as well as strengthen long-term health workforce planning and management.
iHRIS Manage was customized and implemented at the Ministry of Medical Services (MOMS) and the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MOPHS). Over 38,000 records of health professionals working in government facilities and information on over 7,000 health facilities were entered into the system. The database receives monthly updates from the payroll database. To expand access to the system's data, over 125 HR officers and health managers at the ministries have been trained and provided with role-based access. High-level meetings have also been held with the permanent secretaries of the two ministries and their heads of departments.
iHRIS Manage is currently being rolled out to the provincial health offices and faith-based organizations so local health planners can regularly receive and use workforce data to make decisions and inform policies. To ensure smooth roll out and subsequent field support, ICT teams at the two ministries of health are establishing a helpdesk, and an iHRIS Manage user manual specifically for Kenya has been developed to serve as a quick reference guide for both helpdesk personnel and end users.
To effectively meet users' expectations, various customizations of the system have been done so far.
The IntraHealth-led Capacity Kenya project contributes to this work, building on the work of the former Capacity Project (2005-2009).