Integrating Electronic Medical Records Data into National Health Reporting System to Enhance Health Data Reporting and Use at the Facility Level

A well organized and coordinated health reporting system is critical for improved health system and health care services delivery. For a long time, the Tanzanian Government has been committed to support global efforts to improve the quality of health data for increased accountability and evidence-based decision-making by introducing electronic medical records (EMR) systems at facility level and computerize a national reporting system (district health information system (DHIS2)). It is also committed to ensure decision makers have access to high quality routine data from providers of services at health facilities to those responsible for running health programmes at the health ministry (MOHCDGEC, 2017). However, data collection and reporting at facility level is error prone and task demanding due to the manual processes of collecting, aggregating, and sharing data, as a result rarely data are used to monitor programmes and make decisions beyond individual patient care. With the introduction of electronic medical records system, the goal of the paper is to ensure decision-makers have access to high-quality health data that are generated at the facilities, and they value and routinely use the data for decision-making. In doing so, the paper envisages improved practices around data collection, reporting and use and institutionalization of data through integrations of EMR and DHIS2.