CONTEXT
Vision statement
The medical data unit is a newly created structure designed to supervise the collection, processing and use of medical data in MSF-OCB. The unit is located in the Medical Department under the Deputy Medical Director and brings together staff previously working in the Operations, Medical and IT departments under the former eHealth Unit. The scope of the Medical Data Unit comprises the support functions of the former eHealth Unit and also includes strategic and medical technical orientation with the ultimate aim of providing optimal data management.
The Medical Data Unit aims to provide optimal technical data management support to cells and field teams for OCB in line with project objectives, ambitions & demands, and OCB’s overall ambitions & needs according to the Operational Prospects.
Medical data management comprises a whole series of activities and responsibilities which starts with the data collection in front of the patient until the production of databases which can be used by clinicians, epidemiologists and operational managers to guide clinical activities & humanitarian operations.
Operational & medical, humanitarian and strategic intelligence is produced out of relevant, clean, quality project data. These data are collected for:
- Monitoring of the quantity & quality of activities, to guide the users into:
- Direct clinical use
- Monitoring of project management
- Surveillance
- Service management
- Accountability: Justification of use of resources (internal-external) and of MSF presence activities towards other partners
- Catalytic dimension: Data are analysed and used for political (témoignage) and strategic dimensions (through operational research).
Next to Health Information Systems, a gradual investment in EMR solutions is deployed to answer to 2 operational needs: to improve the patient care by organizing the flow of patient information more fluently in the health facility and to improve the care of chronic patients over time (hep C, family planning, TB,…..).
In order to have the most appropriate solution for any given projects, a thorough analysis of specific needs have to be done on the field and a well-defined choice between multiple options needs to be made.
The unit’s goal is to provide a broad and consistent way to provide good quality data in the field, with a good balance between tailor-made (through relevant and usable short-term support) and standardized systemic tools, such as MINOS powered by DHIS2 and Bahmni or any other e-health tool.
The expected result of the unit’s work is to produce operational & medical, humanitarian and strategic intelligence out of relevant, clean, quality project data.
Scope of the Unit
- Define and communicate a vision for medical operational data management in MSF-OCB
- Operational support in data and information management: Finding solutions related to data management practices in the field, in the cells and in the medical department. To keep track of difficulties and opportunities in data-management in operations to propose adapted solutions and define institutional priorities of investment. Assure accompaniment of implementation of data management solutions; user support of tools and ad hoc training including collection; interpretation and use of medical data.
- Medical responsibility: Content management in liaison with other referents maintaining a consistent metadata set: review of indicators, forms, information structuring and ensures appropriate data collection and indicator use
- Tools: to provide the field with adequate tools to ensure good data collection and analysis
- Training: To ensure that field staff have the skills and knowledge required for good medical data management by promoting good practices through trainings & other learning initiatives
We are opening a Med-Ops Data and Information Manager position that will structure and implement the operational support section of the team unit and assist to find the best solutions for data management.
JOB DESCRIPTION
The Med-Ops Data Support Manager coordinates existing medical data and information support to operations (projects, missions, cells) into a consistent service. He/she gathers knowledge about practices, skills, tools and templates currently used in the field, and helps operations to harmonize medical data and information management, with the final goal of improving operational intelligence and decisions.
He/she identifies approaches to improve the use of medical data in the operations with the best balance of utility and the difficulty of implementation. He/she will map needs and expectations from operations as regards to medical data and information management, and propose a plan to build operational data and information capacity with improvement of processes, HR, good practices and tools, according to what is feasible with the current capacities in OCB.
When a field data need is not yet covered, he/she liaises with Operations and the Medical Department to analyse its level of importance, and provides a short term intermediate solution whilst working with others in the eHealth Team to produce a longer term, systematic solution, such as the OCB HIS (MINOS).
He/she coordinates med-ops data support provided by the Operational Support section with the activities of key stakeholders elsewhere in the eHealth Team and in the department of Operations and the Medical Department, such as the Monitoring and Surveillance Programme, the data management unit Epidemiologist, the Public Health Specialist, the Patient Documentation Circle, and LuxOR.
We foresee that three flying positions will be put under the leadership of this position.
Med-Ops Data Management Support
- Acts as the entry point for the cells and the Field for requests on medical data management issues and looks with them for solutions.
- Ensures that requests from the field are provided with a time-bound solution. Ensures that this support complies with the priorities and expectations of the Medical and Operational leadership. Monitors and communicates about the status of field requests.
- Allocates the field requests to the members of the MIO team in ensuring the most performant and motivating choice.
- Defines a practical method of supporting the field in improving data flow, for both paper-based and Excel tools: through trainings, promotion of good practice field visits, and by sharing methods and solutions developed in other locations or designed by other medical data actors in the Medical Department or the Operations Department.
- Provides guidance on how to monitor medical programmes and run epidemiological surveillance, in coordination with the medical referents, the cells and the medical data experts, and according to their recommendations.
- Liaises with the Monitoring and Surveillance programme to ensure that responses to field requests seek to implement systemic rather than contextual solutions; Participates in the development and ensures the consistency of the short-term solution with the overall medical data structure together with the Epidemiologist and the Monitoring And Surveillance Team/Electronic Medical Record leads.
- Together with the other medical data and information stakeholders, defines and implements standard terms of reference for a medical data management field visit, from its preparation to its follow-up.
- Participates to the medical department meetings.
Knowledge Management
- Builds knowledge about medical data usage in the field, and provides solutions to share this knowledge within the field, the Medical and Operations departments.
- Coordinates the generation of the annual medical typology and ensures the primary data systems and indicators are adapted to enhance automatic typology data collection to avoid extra exercises for the field.
- Contributes to the inventories OCB medical facilities and services, documents their data needs, processes and tools in conjunction with the cells and the field.
- Maintains the portfolio of available data methods and solutions, and ensures it is available to staff members who use medical data in the field, in the Department of Operations and in the Medical Department.
- Takes part in the briefing and debriefing system of the unit of medical staff involved in data management and use.
- Takes part in the trainings that are organized to build the data capacities of medical staff.
Mobile Implementation Officer (MIO) Management and Coordination
- In coordination with the missions and the cells, plans and triggers medical data management field visits.
- Coordinates the team of the 3 MIO’s and allocates the field requests to the members of his/her team in ensuring the most performant and motivating choice.
- In coordination with the missions and the cells, develops the TOR’s and the planning of the field visits of the MIO’s for medical data management support or DHIS implementation visits
- Supports the MIO’s in preparation for the next field visit and while on the field.
- Ensures a follow-through after the visit in collaboration with the involved MIO.
- Capitalizes on the lessons learned and good practices for other projects, and ensures an exploitation of what has been accomplished.
