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The Role of Health Information Systems in Achieving Universal Health

Coverage

Conference Paper · March 2019

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Abdulla Mohammed Bagahizel

Hadhramout University Collage of Medicine
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 Review Article

The Role of Health Information Systems in Achieving Universal

Health Coverage
Abdulla Mohammed Bagahizel*
ABSTRACT
Introduction
Sound information is essential to public health decisions. It informs policy, programmes, budgets and evaluation
and forms the basis of accountability for governments’ commitments to their citizens. Also it is an important
instrument to implement Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in more advanced countries. Developing countries
have struggled with insufficient information for health system and financing management. The primary aim of
health information system (HIS) is to increase access, quality and efficiency of health care services for
everyone. Accurate and timely information is required for countries to know whether or not their UHC
implementation has been successful.
Ensuring Universal Access to Health Care
Connecting clinical systems to public health systems allows to know resources mobilization and allocation; the
distribution of expenditures by disease, socioeconomic characteristics and geopolitical areas through sets of
indicators. As well it provides important surveillance information and contributes to know the purchasing and
providing of care, if it is reaching the entire population.
Increasing Quality of Health Care Services
Not only to pay off providers for the costs of care, it’s necessary for financial systems to connect to clinical
systems to properly assess outcomes, sustainability and the effectiveness of certain treatments. Sharing
information between these systems can allow for a positive quality improvement feedback loop.
Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Health Care Costs
Unfortunately there is large waste due to unneeded interventions, duplication and clerical errors especially in
developing countries. This leads to escalate the costs and negatively affect the health financing scheme
sustainability. Information systems can help up minimize those losses and monitor those costs more accurately.
Development of the HIS should be done as soon as the major policy decisions have been decided and
simultaneously with the UHC implementation itself.
Health Insurance Information Systems (HIIS) In UHC
In addition to preventive and screening services on less timely basis, Health Insurance provides a major scheme
for data collection. (HIIS) are important to facilitate the link between payers and provider. The key components
of the HIIS which are involved in supporting National HIS are 1) Payer Information System: whose core
business processes include the enrolment of beneficiaries. 2) Systems at the providers (Clinic Information
Systems) which can “talk” to the payer-side systems. 3) A “BRIDGE” between the payer-side systems and the
providers so that they can transact business electronically including eligibility checking, claims transmission and
more. 4) Standards of interoperability, common coding systems to allow the systems to “talk to each other”.
Conclusion
Reliable and timely Health Information is an essential foundation of public health action and health system
strengthening, which eventually contributes to assist with decision-making and assessment to improve
accessibility, quality, and efficiency of the Universal Health Coverage both nationally and internationally. Better
health information means better decision-making, which leading to better coverage and better health.

* Abdulla Mohammed Bagahizel

Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S) – University of Aden
Master’s student of Public & Tropical Health (M.P.H) – University of Medical Science & Technology (UMST)
Khartoum – Sudan
+249 969561618 - 0920446565
abdullabagahizel@hotmail.com

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