HCSP Improves Clinical Services Data Recording Analysis and Use

The IntraHealth-led USAID HIV/AIDS Clinical Services Program (HCSP) is collaborating with Rwandan districts to ensure that supported health facilities strengthen monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity in areas such as data collection, storage, analysis and data dissemination for reporting. To address the lack of sufficient computerized medical records at health service sites, the IntraHealth M&E data manager has begun streamlining HCSP’s current antiretroviral therapy (ART) patient data into the computerized database IQChart, a product of Futures Group. 

Ensuring HIV program data availability has been a challenge. As the number of HIV patients  enrolled into care increases, management of large amounts of related health care data requires systematic data recording in the available medical records and registers. The lack of dedicated M&E and data quality assurance personnel makes systematic data recording difficult at hospitals and health centers such as the Byumba Hospital, with 500 to 2,500 patients enrolled in care and treatment services. Building on the success of IQChart at the ART sites and in collaboration with TRACNet, HCSP plans to integrate prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) patient data into the IQChart software for improved mother-child follow-up, antenatal care and children’s HIV status determination. With a more streamlined monitoring system, HCSP hopes to increase the current rate of follow-up in each supported PMTCT program and foster linkages between PMTCT and ART services.