Assessment of HMIS Data Accuracy in Health Facilities in Kigali between October and December 2016

Background: Resources available for healthcare worldwide are scarce, especially in developing
countries. To make appropriate and informed decisions to allocate the limited resources, proper
use of data is both necessary and critical. In Rwanda HMIS data are collected by health facilities
each month. The accuracy of HMIS reports may not be precise and thus can potentially negatively
affect the management in decision making. This study aimed to measure the accuracy of HMIS
data in health facilities in Kigali city.
Methods: The study took place in three district hospitals and six randomly selected health centers
in Kigali. Twenty-four HMIS indicators were chosen based on top five diseases with the highest
burden in Rwanda. Verified data were collected by the project team and were used to compare
against the reported data to calculate the accuracy.
Results: The overall accuracy in nine health facilities was 85%. Accuracy in district hospitals (89%)
was higher compared to health centers (84%).
Among the 24 HMIS indicators, four achieved 100% accuracy. Eight achieved an accuracy rate of
90-99%; five had accuracy of 80-89 %; five had accuracy of 70-79%; two had accuracy below 60%
Conclusion: The results of our study showed the health data quality in health facilities of Kigali
city was generally better than some countries, but it was still low compared to the recommended
WHO standard. The data quality audit visits conducted twice per year by the Ministry of health in
Rwanda may be attributed to the improved data quality.