Information systems on human resources for health: a global review

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough attainment of the health-related Millennium Development Goals relies on countries having adequate numbers of human resources for health (HRH) and their appropriate distribution, global understanding of the systems used to generate information for monitoring HRH stock and flows, known as human resources information systems (HRIS), is minimal. While HRIS are increasingly recognized as integral to health system performance assessment, baseline information regarding their scope and capability around the world has been limited. We conducted a review of the available literature on HRIS implementation processes in order to draw this baseline.MethodsOur systematic search initially retrieved 11 923 articles in four languages published in peer-reviewed and grey literature. Following the selection of those articles which detailed HRIS implementation processes, reviews of their contents were conducted using two-person teams, each assigned to a national system. A data abstraction tool was developed and used to facilitate objective assessment.ResultsNinety-five articles with relevant HRIS information were reviewed, mostly from the grey literature, which comprised 84 % of all documents. The articles represented 63 national HRIS and two regionally integrated systems. Whereas a high percentage of countries reported the capability to generate workforce supply and deployment data, few systems were documented as being used for HRH planning and decision-making. Of the systems examined, only 23 % explicitly stated they collect data on workforce attrition. The majority of countries experiencing crisis levels of HRH shortages (56 %) did not report data on health worker qualifications or professional credentialing as part of their HRIS.ConclusionAlthough HRIS are critical for evidence-based human resource policy and practice, there is a dearth of information about these systems, including their current capabilities. The absence of standardized HRIS profiles (including documented processes for data collection, management, and use) limits understanding of the availability and quality of information that can be used to support effective and efficient HRH strategies and investments at the national, regional, and global levels.

A scoping review of nursing workforce planning and forecasting research

“…The educational composition of the nursing workforce can vary widely in some countries. All of these have implications for nursing workforce composition—the mix of educational levels within the profession and how those translate into frontline direct care provision roles (Riley et al., ). The factors previously described are those directly associated with frontline service delivery.…”

Health workforce remuneration: comparing wage levels, ranking, and dispersion of 16 occupational groups in 20 countries

“…However, most available data sources have shortcomings [8,9]. A recent inventory of the requirements for a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) identified pay roll data as one of the nine components needed for data collection, but showed that these data are hard to collect [10]. Only in 10% of the 63 countries under review were these data available, with the result that the availability of pay roll data was ranked as the second-lowest component.…”

Human resource information systems in health care: a systematic evidence review

“…This may explain why a previous systematic review on HRIS in health 64 did not identify any research prior to 2000, whereas our review, using a broader range of search terms, found 7 such studies. Therefore, we recommend that researchers go beyond obvious keywords (eg, HRIS) when undertaking background research for new projects (for list of relevant keywords, see 9 ).…”