The Health Management Information System (HMIS) is considered to be a single biggest routine data system under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW). It is so because it collects its information from more than 5,400 health facilities. According to the new health policy of having a dispensary in each village, a health centre for each ward and a hospital for each district it is anticipated that after ten years the numbers of the current health facilities are expected to double. Also, HMIS through outreach program do collect community based data which cover more than 10,000 villages in the country.
The HMIS in its current form was conceptualized in the early 1990s. The main aim was to establish a comprehensive and integrated routine data system using up to date technologies and approaches. This system was established as a key tool for monitoring and evaluation of health sector reform performance in the country. Therefore HMIS is a core system which provides management solutions to management questions through developed indicators which are applied at all levels of health delivery systems.
HMIS indicators are in the form of rates, ratios and absolute numbers, and eachhas a threshold and target value whereby assessment of performance is based upon. In this respect the information is very useful in managing health delivery in the country at all levels of health delivery system in the country.
