The features of eMIS mHealth apps have been covered in different pages and some other blogs of this website. In short, eMIS is an ecosystem of mobile apps and web-based applications developed for different level of users in the Directorate General of the Family Planning (DGFP) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The monitoring tools, as the name suggests, provides a host of tools for supervisors, managers at district, upazila, division or headquarters level including top-level decision makers The users are able to access them through Internet. Summarized data are retrieved from the cloud databases. Those are presented in tabular formats and also with visual presentations in the forms of charts and location based maps. These tools come up with many novelties that make the life of users simple while increasing their productivity.
Use of monitoring tools
The monitoring tools could be used, among others, for monitoring the status of population registration. Registration is conducted by the Family Welfare Assistants (FWA) through house-to-house visits and the managers can view their progress and performance. There are tools to see data collection by parameters like capturing mobile phone numbers, national identity card numbers and birth registration numbers. Tools are available for monitoring the core work of FWAs like visits to household for providing services to eligible couples, pregnant mother and children, adolescents etc. They can check the status of submission of month-end MIS reports. They can also evaluate the use of latest version of apps and many others. Relevant documents are also available in this site like users’ manual, release notes etc. The users can also raise support ticket to report any issues relating to operation of apps or monitoring tools.
The Upazila Family Planning Officers (UFPO) are responsible for overall management of the upazila. They are responsible for implementation of eMIS in the district. Therefore, they are also very important users of monitoring tools. In interviews, we gathered the impressions from 2 UFPOs about their use of monitoring tools, which are reproduced below:
Ahsan Ullah, UFPO, Nabinagar, Brahmanbaria
I use the monitoring tools regularly. I use it during office hours and also when I am at home or away from office. I feel at ease with my mobile phone. The monitoring tools help me to review work of field workers to an extent that was not possible before. My upazila is quite big. There are 21 unions which are comprised of about 100 villages. As a matter of fact, I even didn’t know the names of many villages. Now I can review monitoring tools to see where the workers are working, village by village. I can find how many individuals each worker is registering daily. I can find out which households they are visiting. We are benefited by using the tools. I believe further training or occasional refreshers courses could go a long way to ensure the use of tools by all.
I use monitoring tools frequently. However, I use more at the beginning and at the end of each month. Possibly less frequently in the middle. I can access it both from home and office. I often use the tools after officer hours. I use both my mobile phone and tablet. I examine the progress of advance workplan items per day prepared by the supervisors and field workers. I review the registration of household and population, especially percentage increases periodically. I analyze the status of submission of month-end MIS reports. I review the progress of updates when new version of any app is released. I find many facilities in one place. Previously I had to use a notebook to note the submission of MIS report, identify the defaulters and make calls. Those who are tech-savvy could make better use of tools.
Rajib Mostafa, UFPO, Chatak, Sunamjanj
Conclusions
The upazila managers recognize the value of monitoring tools. They are also using the tools to monitor the work of the community level workers and their supervisors. Greater use of the tools would open up lots of opportunities for the managers to make their managerial work better and effective.
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