Abstract:
Data quality assurance through the district, regional and national health
information systems is a sure way of having a meaningful interpretation, but
this is a challenge in many developing countries. The purpose of this study
was to determine the availability and data completeness of key newborn data
indicators collected at the health facilities and to determine the use of
newborn data for planning and decision-making at the Cape Coast
metropolis. The study was a descriptive qualitative assessment. An in-depth
interview was conducted in four hospitals within the Cape Coast Metropolis.
There were unique best practices identified with some hospitals such as staff
distribution and utilization in data collection and reporting, using data for
decision making, and to define newborn indicators, data collections tools and
the processes involved in data management and utilising supportive
supervision from both the region and district levels. In order to sustain health
information management, fundamental monitoring and evaluation issues,
standardisation of monitoring and evaluation practices in data and
information management must be addressed. In addition, investment should
be made into the adoption of electronic medical records systems and tertiary
training programs to support monitoring and evaluation activities in the
hospital.
