India faces critical human resources for health challenges in health systems strengthening, including shortages of key cadres such as doctors, specialists, nurses, and midwives, especially in rural and underserved areas. The state of Jharkhand had a very high number of rural vacancies and no data on the training status of health workers. And information on the health workforce is limited, fragmented, and generally not in a format that can be easily accessed, reviewed, and shared. 

This brief outlines how IntraHealth International worked with the government of Jharkhand to pilot and then scale-up statewide a web-based human resources information system to improve access to skilled health workers and high-quality services. Jharkhand’s system customizes iHRIS, the world’s leading open source software for health workforce information systems, currently used by 24 countries.