Description of Session
Transitioning to digital client level information systems that enable longitudinal health service tracking and decision support for health workers remains a complex and arduous process. An extensive requirements gathering process that details the workflows, data needs, and decision support algorithms is critical but often overlooked, resulting in haphazard deployments that are unscalable or difficult to replicate across different settings. Documentation of the underlying data and content within software systems is often unavailable, leading to vendor lock-in and limited understanding of the validity of the information contained in the digital system. The WHO, UNFPA, and partners aim to fill this documentation gap by developing “Accelerator kits”. These kits comprise standardized documentation of the common workflows, minimum datasets (mapped to standards), decision-support algorithms, metrics and reporting indicators, to inform the design of digital client record and decision support systems. These accelerator kit components offer a generic starting point for the requirements gathering process and are developed independent of the digital software used to deploy these requirements. Panelists representing WHO, UNFPA, PATH and JSI will provide an overview of the Accelerator Kit vision and goals, as well as the modular process they are following to develop Accelerator Kits for different programmatic areas (thus far encompassing Antenatal Care (ANC), Family Planning, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)). The panel will discuss the collaborative process for working across institutions and stakeholders to get the right expertise involved in developing and country review of each of the kits. It will also include a deeper dive into the Family Planning and STI accelerator kits (with an ASRH overlay) to introduce the audience to the components, content, and share insights from the field testing process. Finally, the panel will inform the audience about next steps, ways they can start to put the Accelerator Kits into action, and discuss questions.
