Lok Sabha Question No. 393 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-03
Subject: Healthcare Data
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, ANANDRAO  ADSUL, DHARMENDRA YADAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 393 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03 RD FEBRUARY , 201 7

## HEALTHCARE DATA

## 393. SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE: SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT: SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL: SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  healthcare  data  in  the country  is  significantly  compromised  in terms  of its quality, its periodicity and coverage and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether a recent study by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy states that there is a visible discrepancy between the type of information available and that whi ch is required by health planners, medical s ientists and researchers and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  different  data  sources  in  the country  lead  to  different  conclusions  and  if o,  the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to strengthen data quality?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE)

- (a): No. however quality and effective use of data  depends on  completeness, timeliness capacity building of data provider and availability of data from alternative sources.
- (b): In a recent study 'Health Information System in India Challenges and way forward' the National  Institute  of  Public  Finance  and  Policy    stated  to  understand  data quality  issues  and Health Information System at a systemic level, both  at a national and sub - national level with Andhra  Pradesh  as  a  case  study  and  explored  possible  solutions  for  India  from  Interna experience.  Quoting  various  Study/Reports  and  com paring  data  of  various  sources  the  above study highlighted the issues of lack of private sector data, limited disaggregation of da training on probing skills, shortage of staff, errors in data entry, data aggregation, d data, method ological issues, inconsistent data definitions and data triangulation issues observed the study compared survey data (NFHS) and service statistics (HMIS data) which not strictly comparable.
- (c): Y es.  Difference may arise due to differences in definition of data elements, reference point, periodicity, change in the program, response bias, investigators bias, etc.

(d): The  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  strengthen  quality  of  data  in  terms completeness, timeliness and accuracy include the following:

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) had launched a web based monitoring system  i.e.,  Health  Management  Information  System  (HMIS)  in  2008  to  monitor  its  heal programmes and provide key inputs for policy formulation and interven tions. Currently, around 200,000 health facilities across all districts of the country are uploading facility w monthly  basis  directly  on  HMIS  web  portal. For  ensuring  quality  of  data  on  HMIS  portal, system  for  doing  verifications,  comparison, validation,  scrutiny,  feedback  exercise  and inspection drills is in place and is also available for all States/UTs.

MoHFW  has  taken  a  decision  to  carry  out  an  integrated  survey  replacing  all  hea surveys of similar nature being carried out earlier with varying periodicities, covering all districts in the country to provide estimates of health indicators i.e. data on reproductive, ch nutrition,  gender  violence,  HIV/AIDS  etc.,  at  the  District,  State,  and  National  leve periodicity  of  thre e  y ars.  Accordingly,  the  Ministry  had  launched  National  Family  Health Survey (NFHS) - 4 (2015 - 16)  as  an  integrated  survey.  The  field  work  of  the  survey  has  be completed and key results for 26 States/UTs are published.

MoHFW has introduced web based name based tracking system called Mother & Child Tracking System (MCTS) across all the States & UTs to facilitate timely delivery of ant and postnatal care services to all the pregnant women and immunization to all the children

RCH portal (upgraded version of MCTS) has been designed for early identification a tracking of the individual beneficiary throughout the reproductive lifecycle. RCH portal been  designed  to  promote  and  support  the  reproductive,  maternal,  new -born and  child  health (RMNCH)  schemes  /  programme  delivery  and  reporting.  This  portal  will  facilitate  all stakeholders with readily available information at one place.

To improve the data quality, MoHFW has introduced a tablet based application, cal AN MOL (which stands for ANM On Line), for RCH application. ANMOL enables ANMs to enter and update data for beneficiaries of their jurisdiction. This ensures more prompt updation of data as well as improves the data quality since the data is entered 'at source' (by providers of health services themselves).

An  online  data  entry  portal  ( www.cbhi.nic.in) is  used      for  reporting  of  certain Communicable  and  Non - Communicable  Diseases  from  District  and/or  State/UT  l evel  in  co -ordination  with  Directorate  of  Health  Services  (DHS)/State  Bureau  of  Health  Intelli (SBHI) of respective State/UTs. The data reported in this portal is crosschecked and a before being published in Annual Publication 'National Health Profile (NHP)'.

Revised  National  Tuberculosis  Control  Programme  (RNTCP)  is  using  web  based reporting system called Nikshay and is periodically validated.