A human resource for health information system (HRHIS), also known as human resource information system (HRIS) — is a system for collecting, processing, managing and disseminating data and information on human resource for health (HRH). Depending on the level of development of a country's health care system and the organization of its workforce, an HRHIS can be computerized or paper-based, including information on numbers and distribution of health workers and track their career information.[1][page needed] It is usually an integral part of a comprehensive health management information system, and may be used to monitor and assess the performance of the overall health system.
For example, in Tanzania the title Human Resource for Health Information System refers to an open-source software for HRH information management developed by the Department of Computer Science, University of Dar es Salaam for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (Tanzania), and funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and other development partners.[2][3] The system supports the capture of data linked to any level in the organizational hierarchy and is customizable at both the input and output sides.
In Canada, the HRHIS is composed of multiple computerized components, including the National Physician Database and the Registered Nurses Database.[4] There is increasing demand to incorporate social indicators within the underlying information systems, including data on whether the health workforce reflects the demographics of the population it serves in terms of gender, language, ethnicity and other social attributes, although implementation generally lags.[5]
For another example, in Uganda, an open-source HRHIS was implemented under the request of the Ugandan Ministry of Health (MOH), to link and better manage a variety of independent sources of health workforce data, including data from censuses and other national surveys, MOH administrative records, district level sources, independent research studies, and health professional council data.[6]
In Brazil, the national web-based HRHIS (known in Portuguese as sistema de informação e gestão de recursos humanos em saúde)[7] was implemented by the Brazilian Ministry of Health under a process of health systems reform and decentralization, catalyzed by the availability of new information technologies at the level of local health organizations. Botswana developed its HRHIS in 1994, and Ministry of Health staff used the data as a basis for coordinated national workforce planning efforts with other agencies and ministries, such as the Department of Local Government which employs health workers in local regions.[8]