Health Management Information System Governance and Policy Research Paper

Health Management Information System Governance and Policy - Research Paper Example The system also has the role of providing warnings in case of a foreseen epidemic and thus contributing towards future planning, creating a conducive research and reporting environment. This paper tries to explain different strategies as laid out by the U.S government aimed towards the general improvement of Health Information system. It also talks about how an effective HIS should function. Health Information Systems (HIS) can be defined as â€Å"a set of components and procedures organized with the objective of generating information which will improve health care management decisions at all levels of the health system.† (Lippeveld, et al., 2000). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health systems as â€Å"all organizations, institutions and resources devoted to producing health actions.† It encompasses central, regional, district, community and household levels. These health systems also incorporate two important components; dissemination and communication. The primary goal of a HIS is to allow making of transparent and sound decisions in a health environment. The performance of HIS can be measured by the quality of data produced and the population’s health status. The HIS should incorporate the parameters of demand, supply and generation level of the health system at which data is generated and used. Factors such as input, output and health determinants make up components of demand. Supply involves sources of generating data either relative to population as a whole or those concerned with the operation of services. Presentation of data varies at different levels and at low levels, use of charts is preferred. From here, indicator components are then analyzed and results used to make reports. The HIS allows for making of sound decisions based on four key components; generation of data, compiling collected data, analyzing and coming up with results and communicating new information and implementing it. Assessment of performance of an effective