Individual National Consultant for Support to Revise Health Information System (HIS) to Integrate with Electronic Maternal and Child Health System (e-MCH) in Viet Nam

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, an opportunity...

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Despite numerous guiding documents issued in recent years to advance digital transformation and the comprehensive application of Information Technology (IT) in the health sector, the adoption of IT in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Reproductive Health (RH) has not met expectations. Remote medical consultations and professional support (telehealth) remain limited in scope, and the management of MCH/RH databases is still rudimentary. Currently, there is no utilization of software to manage network information, such as the status of physical infrastructure, equipment, human resources, network organization, and service delivery capacities of MCH/RH units.

Health statistics software has been developed, but it merely computerizes general statistical reports from commune, district, and provincial levels without digitizing the original record books. This oversight requires health staff to continue aggregating data from paper-based reports. Such manual work or repeated entry of the same piece of data is prone to errors and mistakes, and time-consuming when reviewing data. Furthermore, the deployment of essential software such as hospital management, grassroots health care, medical statistical reporting, e-medical records, e-MCH monitoring books, and immunization management, etc., has been fragmented, without the necessary connections or integration. There is also a lack of specialized information management systems, such as a shared database on reproductive support, a unified connection between reproductive support facilities, information management systems for cervical cancer screening in women, and information management systems for maternal and child mortality review.

In response to these challenges, there is a pressing need to develop a digital information management system that will serve maternal and child health care, manage individual information, and ensure seamless data interconnectivity with digital health platforms, e.g. medical examination and treatment management software, grassroots health management system (HIS), medical statistics software, e-medical records, etc. This will significantly reduce the burden of data entry for health staff, enhance the quality of data, and provide robust support for data synthesis and analysis, which is essential for strategic direction, administration, and policy planning. To these ends, UNICEF Viet Nam has collaborated with Viet Nam’s Ministry of Health and a technical consulting firm to build a digital information management system, abbreviated as e-MCH. For the system to function effectively, e-MCH requires input data from grassroots health management software systems, hospital management software (HIS), and national immunization information software (NIIS). Once these inputs are secured, the data will be transferred by the e-MCH to medical statistics software and e-medical records, etc.

Currently, in Viet Nam, medical examination and treatment facilities including commune health stations, district health centres/hospitals, and provincial hospitals, are all actively utilizing a health information system (HIS), which is provided by numerous service providers, e.g. Viettel and VNPT, and encompasses two primary types:

1. Hospital-level information management systems (including the Hospital Information System, Testing Information System, Image Storage and Transmission System, Diagnostic Imaging Information System, and Operations Software), which are fully integrated to address all informational needs in a hospital setting. Core functions include managing patient information, medical histories, both inpatient and outpatient medical services, pharmaceutical inventories, finance, hospital fees, medical supplies, equipment, personnel, diagnostic testing, e-medical records, etc. Hospital-level systems are integrated to optimize hospital management and operations, enhancing service delivery, research, training, statistics, forecasts, and preventative measures.

2. Grassroots health information management systems, which are developed in accordance with Decision No. 3532/QD-BYT dated 12 August 2020 on building and deploying the information management system of health stations at the commune, ward, and town levels. It facilitates the management and utilization of data for medical examinations and treatment, statistical reporting, health target programs of the communes/wards, MCH care, and primary health care. The system comprises 22 functions, including those dedicated to MCH and RH management.

Further to these implementations, the Ministry of Health issued Decision No. 4655/QD-BYT, which outlines the List of basic information for e-MCH to test its connectivity with inputs from the mentioned hospital information systems (HIS). However, for the automatic data transfer and interconnection to occur, technical support from relevant service providers (e.g., Viettel, VNPT) is essential to review and modify the systems, thus ensuring input fields are adequate and in the right format to integrate the data with e-MCH.

To complete this task, UNICEF will hire an information technology expert to collaborate with VNPT in improving the HIS software system developed by VNPT, ensuring its compatibility with the e-MCH system.

Scope of Work:

- Conduct review health information software system (HIS) provided by VNPT included HIS for hospital or district health centre; and HIS for commune health station.

- Upgrading VNPT's HIS version ensures seamless data integration with the e-MHC system.

- Test VNPT's HIS version after upgrading and integrating it with the e-MCH system.

- Support for integrating VNPT's HIS software to ensure seamless connection and data transmission with the e-MCH system.

How can you make a difference?

For full Objective, Tasks, Deliverables, please find as enclosed TOR revise HIS.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education: Minimum Qualifications required:

- Advanced degree in IT or related field is required.

- At least 10 years of experience in leading the design and conduct of complex development relevant IT projects including overseeing software developers; responsibility for business analysis, budgets, contracts, procurement, and project management.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

- Experience in IT and digital health system/software development, deployment and scaling up in the East Asian continent, preferably in Viet Nam.

- Experience in working with IT development partners in Viet Nam in development and implementation of healthcare system information and software.

- Experience in working with Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) on develop and revise system and software is an asset.

- Familiarity with the work of UNICEF and/or other similar organizations working on digital health including for maternal and child health.

- Good understanding of human rights, equity and gender-based approaches to programming.

- Good written and communication skills in both Vietnamese and English.

Evaluation Criteria:

A) Technical Evaluation: maximum 75 Points

- Educational background: 20 points

- Relevant work experience (45 points)

- Required language(s) (10 points): Good written and communication skills in both Vietnamese and English.

B) Financial Proposal: maximum 25 points

- The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened /evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 50 points score in the technical evaluation. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

- The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview if needed.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Submission of applications:

a. Letter of interest/confirmation of availability and CV;

b. Technical proposal (5-10 pages) which clearly explains the outline on how to deliver the tasks and deliverables;

b. Three references;

d. Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including consultancy fee and any other relevant costs for this assignment.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.