Earlier this week, The United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership released a new paper, ”Health Information and Health Care: The Role of Technology in Unlocking Data and Wellness,” in collaboration with the mHealth Alliance. The paper includes a chapter co-authored by Dykki Settle, who leads the eHealth/Informatics team of CapacityPlus, which is led by IntraHealth International.

The paper examines critical bottlenecks in data collection and transfer among three key health sectors—disease surveillance, supply chains, and human resources for health. Experts in each area discuss how technology-based solutions, particularly mobile technology, can be used to improve health and health care delivery and streamline the flow of health-related information. 

“Around the world, countless lives are lost due to insufficient access to quality health information,” says lead author Jody Ranck. Timely, accurate data improve the delivery of health care and the efficiency of health systems.

Settle’s chapter, “Data Flows in Health Human Resources Ecosystems,” explains how better data on health workforce supply and demand can help clinics and governments allocate staff appropriately across geographies and specialties. This is especially important where there is a shortage or poor distribution of health workers adequately trained to address local health needs.

As part of his work on CapacityPlus, Settle oversees the development of iHRIS, an open source software suite that gives health sector leaders the information needed to assess human resources problems and plan and evaluate effective interventions.

To download the full report, press release and fact sheet, visit: http://www.unfoundation.org/press-center/publications/infoascare.html.