In a country like Bangladesh, where healthcare infrastructure faces numerous challenges, innovative digital solutions are not just beneficial—they are essential. The Surjer Hasi Network (SHN), a USAID initiative, in collaboration with mPower, has embraced this necessity by implementing a centralized OpenMRS model to revolutionize healthcare delivery. This digital health innovation enhances resource mobilization and transparency, bringing unprecedented improvements to the healthcare system.

Healthcare Struggles in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s healthcare system has long struggled with issues of resource allocation, transparency, and efficient service delivery. According to the World Bank, the country has only 0.58 physicians and 0.8 nurses per 1,000 people, significantly below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended minimum of 4.45 healthcare professionals per 1,000 people, highlighting the acute shortage of healthcare professionals. Additionally, healthcare expenditure in Bangladesh is about 2.34% of its GDP, one of the lowest in the South Asian region. 

Poor resource management often leads to shortages in essential supplies and an uneven distribution of medical personnel, particularly in rural areas. The Surjer Hasi Network aims to provide affordable and quality healthcare services to underserved communities. However, managing these clinics and ensuring optimal resource utilization posed significant challenges.

A New Dawn in Healthcare

The centralized OpenMRS model implemented by SHN and developed by mPower enables real-time tracking of resources such as medical supplies and personnel across 134 clinics. This centralized system ensures that clinics are adequately stocked and staffed, reducing the incidence of resource shortages and improving service delivery.

OpenMRS was designed and developed by mPower to improve healthcare delivery in resource-constrained environments. It facilitates the collection, management, and analysis of patient data, supporting clinical care, research, and health management. The adaptation of this model for SHN has been transformative. By centralizing data and making it accessible across all clinics, SHN can now mobilize resources more efficiently. This centralized system provides a clear and transparent view of resource allocation, usage, and financial transactions—elements that were previously opaque.

Enhancing Resource Mobilization and Transparency

Financial Transparency: By digitizing financial transactions, SHN can now monitor and manage funds more effectively. This transparency helps in identifying areas where resources are being underutilized or misallocated, allowing for timely corrective actions.

After an interview with the head of IT of SHN, it was revealed that, prior to OpenMRS, managing the reporting process would have required the employment of 40 to 80 Customer Relation Officers (CROs), each earning approximately 15,000 BDT per month. The implementation of the system has dramatically reduced the need for such a large workforce, highlighting its efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Data-Driven Decision Making: The implementation of OpenMRS has started a new era of evidence-based decision-making in healthcare. The robust data collected through this system enables healthcare providers to meticulously analyze trends and patterns, ultimately enhancing service delivery and patient care.

In a revealing interview, officials highlighted a significant improvement in data accuracy due to the regular use of OpenMRS. Remarkably, the error rate in data entry has been halved since the system’s introduction, now standing at approximately 200 errors per 250,000 data points. This dramatic reduction underscores the system’s role in ensuring data-driven decision-making, empowering healthcare professionals to make more informed decisions with confidence, thanks to the minimized risk of errors.

Enhanced Accountability: It has also brought a new level of transparency to healthcare, fostering greater accountability among providers. With meticulous records of all transactions and resource allocations, it has become markedly easier to hold individuals and teams accountable for their performance.

In the same interview they said, 

     “First time entry takes time and this is usually the same for manual and digital   system. But for each time next, the time would be much less, it would reduce to   90% than the first-time registration.” 

In short, the transition to digital reporting has slashed manual reporting time by an impressive 70-80%, streamlining processes and vastly improving efficiency. 

Since the implementation of OpenMRS for the Surjer Hasi Network in 2021, the healthcare outcomes have been noteworthy. The system recorded a total of 5,903 safe deliveries, including 3,328 normal deliveries and 2,432 C-sections. Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services reached 703,343 individuals, while the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and Limited Curative Care (LCC) provided care to 269,545 and 328,580 patients, respectively. These figures underscore the significant impact of digitizing healthcare management on improving service delivery and patient care.

Final Thoughts

The Surjer Hasi Network’s installation of OpenMRS marks a significant step forward in Bangladesh’s healthcare sector. The 70-80% reduction in manual reporting, along with a considerable drop in data input mistakes, has simplified operations and improved productivity. Real-time resource tracking and financial transparency have transformed resource allocation and management, proving cost-effective by significantly decreasing the requirement for a big workforce. The favorable impact on healthcare outcomes, as proven by thousands of safe births and widespread vaccination and maternity care services, demonstrates digital health technologies’ revolutionary capacity in solving crucial healthcare concerns.