Replacing Paper-based Survey using Open Data Kit

by Rohit Shrestha

Background:

Family Welfare Division(FWD), Department of Health Service,Ministry of Health is delivering promotional, preventive, diagnostic, curative, and palliative health care services and other health system related functions through various institutions established at the community- and central-level through the country.  One of the specific tasks FWD does it to monitor all health facilities(Health Post, Hospital, CEONC) in regular basis which can be monthly, quarterly or yearly through survey. This survey keep tracks of the quality that health facilities are providing. So, DoHS(Department of Health Service) plans to replace conventional data collection method with Digital Forms.



How is it done?(Background)

In a regular period of time, every health worker across the country are informed to fill the paper based survey which helps FWD monitor the overall quality of the health facilities.
There are total of 8002 Health Facilities in Nepal(source:https://nhfr.mohp.gov.np/).Evaluation on the basis of paper form is a hectic and unproductive task.

Problem


The problem with the current implementation was

  • Time
  •  waste of resource(paper)
  • human resource
  • Low quality data


Solution

To avoid this, we planned on using openODK. It is  free and open-source software for collecting, managing, and using data in resource-constrained environments.
It has various component:
ODKAggregate :Server for collecting datas
ODKCollect : Android App for data collection
ODK Build : A drag and drop form builder



Why ODKCollect?

  • Easy to Deploy
  • Easy to Collect Information
  • Easy for Data Analysis
  • It’s Free and Proven at massive scale
  • Data can be collected offline and send it it server when internet is available using the app
  • From monitoring rain forests to observing elections to tracking outbreaks, It has been standard for data collection in mobile platform.

ODK Ecosystem

Screenshots:

ODK Collect App
ODK Aggregate Server
ODK Builder for building form

This is one of the few steps from the government of Nepal to replace paper based system and minimum human resource and increase effectiveness in work. Replacing paper based system is a huge challenge in Nepal since people are not used to computers.But within few years, i am quiet positive that we will have electronic system all over the country.It has been an necessity for the people since paper based data are not reliable and takes time for any actions.