SHOPS Plus launches training to improve private sector reporting on service provision

Private health providers face challenges participating in routine reporting into the health information system in Madagascar due to limited knowledge of the reporting processes, lack of paper monthly reporting forms, costs of duplicating and printing the reporting forms, logistical burdens of submitting the paper forms to district offices, particularly during rainy season, and lack of utility of the forms for private providers themselves.

To help address these challenges, SHOPS Plus developed and validated an Excel version of the monthly reporting form in collaboration with private providers and the Ministry of Public Health. The Excel form facilitates automatic calculation of service provision totals, email submission to the district officer, and analysis of facility data by private providers. SHOPS Plus will pilot the use of this Excel form in Tana-Ville as part of a larger activity to engage private providers in routine reporting.

To support the introduction and adoption of the new Excel document, SHOPS Plus hosted two trainings of trainers on September 24 and 25 for 31 representatives of private sector associations, including the Organisation Sanitaire Tananarivienne Inter Entreprises, Association Medicale Interentreprises de Tananarive, Sampanasa Loterana momba ny FAmpandrosoana, Ordre National des Medecins and others who will use this information to train private providers in their networks.

Also present were the data officers from Antananarivo District who are working collaboratively with SHOPS Plus to process paper and Excel monthly reporting forms for private providers. Six additional workshops are scheduled for private providers in October 2019, with the launch of the reporting pilot in Antananarivo planned for November 2019. In the pilot, SHOPS Plus will work with one hundred private providers to ensure that they are able to effectively contribute to, and participate in, the health information system. The goal of the pilot is to provide a replicable model for private sector participation in the health information system in other districts and regions.

Learn more about our work in Madagascar.