PARTNERS IN HEALTH SIERRA LEONE, LLC.

Job title:

e-Health Manager

Work Location:

Kono

Department:

Monitoring and Evaluation

Reports to:

Strategic Health Information System (SHIS) Lead

Line Management

Not Specified

Duration of Contract:

Twelve (12) Months

Application Status:

External Advert

Organization Profile

Partners In Health Sierra Leone LLC (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change. Our delivered services in the field are based in our partnership with the Governments and Ministries of Health and the support to education, training and mentorship to Health care workers and students is one of our pillars for the Health care system strengthening.

PIH currently has implementation programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Sierra Leone and Navajo Nation. Through our partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, we support a wide range of programs in dozens of other countries around the world. 

Our Work In Sierra Leone:

Partners In Health Sierra Leone LLC (PIH) began supporting the government of Sierra Leone in response to the Ebola epidemic in October 2014. Recognizing the large need for continued investments in the health system after Ebola, PIH is committed to long-term health system strengthening in support of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), guided by the same principles as our emergency response and our work around the world: public sector accompaniment, integrated and comprehensive services, social justice, nimbleness and flexibility, partnership, community ownership, and evidence-based interventions. In the aftermath of the epidemic, PIH is committed to supporting the delivery of comprehensive health services in Sierra Leone, from the community level to the health center and to referral hospitals.

Position Overview

Our vision is to build health information systems that are aligned with the Government of Sierra Leone eHealth strategy and that are able to offer interoperability with existing systems, such as DHIS2. 

The eHealth Manager will be part of the Strategic Health Information System (SHIS) team based in Koidu City, Kono District, Sierra Leone and will work closely with the Boston-based Health Information Systems team.  Current initiatives include: expanding implementation of the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system at multiple health care facilities; supporting the use of a CommCare-based mobile tool for community health workers; and deployment of a CommCare data collection for hospital triage.  Ensuring robust systems are in place to facilitate data use, maintain data quality and smooth functioning of the electronic systems is a key part of this role.

The OpenMRS EMR is a platform that PIH have supported and contributed to for many years.  The eHealth Lead will be critical in leading its continued development, as well as collaborating with teams on the UX design to ensure an EMR system that meets the end user needs.  Our objective is to demonstrate how OpenMRS can assist in the delivery of quality healthcare and realise the benefits of digital health.

The eHealth Manager will actively participate in strengthening efficient health information system in two teaching health facilities in the Western Area of Sierra Leone: the Lakka Government Hospital and the Sierra Leone Psychiatric teaching Hospital (SLPTH) in Kissy. The eHealth Manager will oversee and manage the digital health implementation components of the Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE)

A significant function of the job is to build the technical capacity of the local staff in IT and health information management amongst PIH and Ministry colleagues and staff. This person will manage a team of eHealth officers and will spend a significant portion of their time on investing in capacity-development and skills advancement for these team members.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Implementation of eHealth Initiatives (60%)

• Work closely with the SHIS team and Boston-based Health Information Systems team to design, implement, and optimize EMR and mobile health systems features in support of improved health care delivery at PIH-SL-supported health facilities
• Work closely with IT and supply chain teams to create budgets for EMR implementation
• Liaise between the clinical team and the Boston-based Health Information Systems team to design and adapt EMR software that is best suited for the Sierra Leonean context (i.e. ensure that not only technical but user-centered requirements of the systems are met)
• Build best practices for testing new releases and rolling out system upgrades
• Implement local changes to modules to improve UX and data use e.g. add/delete variables, modify option lists, add new skip logic to xml files
• Ensure look-up lists of e.g. diagnoses, drugs, lab tests are maintained and up-to-date
• Ensure efficient EMR and mobile health system implementation and maintenance, including end user training.
• Put backup and resilience measures in place to ensure systems stay on line and data is safeguarded and updated regularly to minimize downtime
• Contribute to the evaluation of informatics systems in collaboration with the SHIS team
• Ensure reporting from the system is accurate and effective and meets stakeholder requirements
• Ensure regular data quality monitoring is reviewed and actioned
• Develop and ensure complete compliance with internal data governance policies and strategies all key processes are documented and these documents are completed to an agreed standard.

Data Collection, Analysis, and Utilization (20%)

• Design and implement data warehouse pipeline to facilitate M&E teamwork to provide timely and complete insights to clinical programs and partners.
• Liaise with other PIH sites to ensure consistency of health information collected across parallel programs to enable joint evaluations and analyses
• Assist in data collection, analysis, and presentation associated with monitoring, evaluation, and research or quality improvement activities
• Support other routine SHIS activities as required 

Team Management & Training (20%)

• Directly manage a team of eHealth specialists and officers with potential for additional direct reports in the future, including weekly check-ins, mentorship, training, and other management responsibilities
• With clinical partners, support the delivery of training to end users of the EMR system
• Support the production of effective computer skills assessments and training materials for end users
• Actively Participate to enhance the capacity of SHIS team members to manage the EMR systems effectively through on-the-job coaching and mentorship

Criteria for this position

The key competencies required for the position of eHealth Lead are as follows (where not required competencies are flagged as “desirable”).

Prevention of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

Partners In Health (PIH) is committed to ensuring that those who benefit from our work, including patients, families and community members, are treated with respect and dignity. We recognize that our work is rooted in vulnerable communities and, as a social justice organization, we are responsible for preventing sexual abuse and exploitation and enforcing consequences for those who fail to uphold these standards.  PIH will not tolerate its employees, volunteers, consultants or any other representatives associated with the delivery of our work carrying out any form of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation, failing to report any allegations of sex abuse or sexual exploitation, or retaliation against those who report or participate in investigations. 

Qualification and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in discipline with strong informatics component or evidence of significant commitment to learning around informatics later in career.
• (Desirable) Master’s degree in one of these: Computer Science, Database Administration, Health Informatics, Health Information Management; Software Engineering.

Technical Competencies

• At least three (3) years of experience of maintaining information software systems (preferably medical information systems).  This implies familiarity with database configuration (specifying changes, implementing changes), integrating workflow into an electronic system, managing stakeholder requirements, ensuring the smooth running of the system.
• Proven technical expertise and knowledge in health information systems management, geographical information systems (GIS) management and digital health implementation

• Proven managerial skills in planning health information systems or e-health projects with a culturally diverse, multidisciplinary team in low-resource countries.
• Excellent communication and training facilitation skills
• Ability and willingness to quickly learn new skills and tasks
• Familiarity with database principles and experience of database management
• (Desirable) Exposure to and conceptual understanding of: SQL, CSS, HTML, Java or Javascript, Git & GitHub, Linux
• (Desirable) Experience with data visualization tools such as PowerBI or Tableau
• (Desirable) Familiarity with and interest in research and statistical methods

1. Behavioral Competencies

      Professional – resourceful problem-solver, adapts well to changing priorities and demands, able to work in team and alone

      Communicator – Excellent oral and written communication skills, empathic, culturally competent with an adequate awareness of one’s heuristic and cognitive biases. 

      Detail oriented – strong analytics skills; being able to focusing on details and to seeing the imbrication with the big picture; attention to detail and commitment to getting it right, delivering polished, high-quality deliverables with minimal oversight.

      Ethical – Demonstrated alignment with and commitment to the health information professionals’ code of ethics along with a natural passion for strengthening digital health information system in Sierra Leone.

      Committed – Commitment to understanding and advocating for PIH’s mission, vision, core values, strategy and approach to addressing health issues in settings of poverty

      Comfortable living in a rural area and able to deal with poor IT infrastructure.

Methods of Application

Interested candidates are required to apply through our website: http://www.pih.org/employment.   In your application, please ensure to include names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers of three (3) referees not later than 12:00pm GMT (Midnight) on Tuesday, 7th December, 2021.