Belize Health Information System (Bhis)

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Discuss why Belize Health Information System (BHIS) was classified as Stage 5. Vital Wave Consulting used 5 Health Information System stages in order to evaluate the health information systems surveyed and discussed in their report on Health Information Systems in Developing Countries. A summary of what each of the stages measure is as follows: Stage 1: Paper-based systems are used for the collection of district health indicators. Stage 2: Paper systems optimized by simplifying indicators and reducing duplication are used Stage 3: Traditional district health information has been migrated to electronic storage and reporting mechanisms. Stage 4: Operational IT systems have been introduced as a source of data for the country’s health information systems. Stage 5: The end-state of a fully comprehensive and integrated national health information system has been achieved. Of all the countries analyzed within the Vital Wave report, Belize is the closest one to a stage 5 rating. A stage 5 rating classifies a country’s health information system as one where all critical data sources are fully integrated and available within a system that is both adaptable and sustainable over time. Belize’s HIS is further ahead than those of other countries surveyed in part because of its strong government support, sufficient funding, clear health-related policies and regulations, strong decision making ability concerning health information, and small size. The population of Belize is only 300,000 people. In 2001, Belize began reforming its overall health sector structure, which was aimed at improving its operations, efficiency, and overall coverage of its people. In 2004, as part of this redesign, the Belize Health Information System began being planned and was rolled out. Up until this time, Belize’s health information system was strictly paper-based. The Canadian software
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