Technical Assistance for the Healthy Hearts Programme Facility Hypertension e-Registry and the Portable Hypertension Reporting Tool

BACKGROUND

The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Philippines, continues to implement and adapt actions to reduce premature cardiovascular disease mortality and noncommunicable disease risk factors through the Healthy Hearts Programme. In Phase III of the project, it will expand its coverage from District 1 of Iloilo Province to the remaining four districts of Iloilo and the entire Antique Province. The initiative’s objectives remain unchanged – strengthen local health system governance, enhance service delivery for noncommunicable disease (NCD) related services, and increase demand and health service utilization for NCDs, particularly hypertension. One of the project activities is enhancing data systems for policy development and decision-making through the Facility Hypertension e-Registry (e-Registry) and the Portable Hypertension Reporting Tool, which are both developed and refined during the first two phases of the project.

The e-Registry is an Excel-based data collection, organizing, and reporting tool that has been deployed at rural health units (RHUs). It tracks the blood pressure control status, medication use, and adherence to follow-up of individual hypertensive patients, and generates data on a set of standardized performance indicators that can be used to continuously improve the quality of hypertension control at both the health care facility and population levels.

While the e-Registry is far more efficient and effective for monitoring and reporting than the paper-based registries it replaces, it still presents a few limitations. In RHUs that have a limited number of laptops or desktops, the e-Registry is difficult to use as a job aid for real-time data entry during a patient’s visit. Furthermore, the e-Registry is not available for data collection and reporting at the barangay level where a growing number of ‘stable’ patients (i.e. patients with controlled blood pressure) are monitored and received maintenance medication refills.

To complement the e-Registry and improve the efficiency of the encoding process and the quality of the data collected and the reports generated, the Portable Hypertension Reporting Tool (PoHRT) has been developed. This tool has been field tested in District 1 of Iloilo Province to collect routine blood pressure monitoring and medication refill data at both the RHU and barangay health stations. 

As the project starts its expansion this year, technical support for the rollout and implementation of the e-Registry and PoHRT is necessary to manage, maintain and troubleshoot these tools.

PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY

The overall goal of the technical assistance is to provide software support and maintenance to the currently implemented hypertension electronic registry and portable hypertension reporting tool in the Healthy Hearts Programme Phase III implementation sites in the provinces of Antique and Iloilo.

METHODS TO CARRY OUT THE ACTIVITY

In partnership with the DOH CHD Western Visayas, Provincial Health Offices, RHU/LGU and WHO Philippines, the expected outputs for this APW are:

Output 1: Approved Inception Report

Deliverable 1.1: A detailed plan of action on how to conduct the project. The report should include the following, but not limited to, objectives, significance of the project, implementing framework, methodology, target participants, data collection tools, processes for data collection, analysis, validation, consultation, and presentation of findings. The inception report should also include a project management plan.

Deliverable 1.2: GANTT Chart with expected outputs and deliverables

Output 2: Set up a helpdesk for the users of the e-Registry and PoHRT

Deliverable 2.1: Review and test existing versions of the e-Registry and PoHRT and identify areas for improvement to facilitate efficient data encoding and report generation

Deliverable 2.2: Update fields and forms in the tools as needed by the project team and tool users.

Deliverable 2.3: Provide support to users for challenges and issues in setting up the tools on their devices, entering patient data, downloading reports, and merging PoHRT data with e-Registry data.

Deliverable 2.4: Update the codes and formulae as required based on the errors or bugs encountered.

Deliverable 2.5: Consolidate service request forms and information from users and stakeholders on their data and reporting needs, summarize findings and actions taken, and provide a monthly report to DOH WV CHD and WHO Philippines.

Output 3: Training sessions and knowledge transfer activities

Deliverable 3.1: Conduct training sessions (in-person and/or virtual) for tool users and stakeholders. Each session must be documented and summarized as part of the progress and final reports

Deliverable 3.2: Information session/s with relevant offices, particularly the IT team, at the provincial and regional levels for systems or back-end adjustments. Each session must be documented and summarized as part of the progress and final reports

Output 4: Technical narrative reports and financial statements.

Deliverable 4.1: Store all project materials (raw data, recordings, minutes of meetings, photos, references, etc.) on a cloud folder. All raw data and source documents shall be submitted to DOH and WHO Philippines

Deliverable 4.2: Submission of final technical narrative report that includes project implementation and financial report.

Completion of work. The work to be done under this Agreement for Performance of Work (APW) shall be completed as set out in the Terms of Reference, supported by the approved Inception Report. The contract will be completed in not more than seven months from the commencement of the Work, or otherwise as agreed in writing among the Owner and the Contractor. The work shall be done in strict compliance with the Contract, Specifications, Schedules, and all other Contract documents and all Instructions. Failure to do so shall be at the Contractor’s risk and account. Submission of Bid by the Contractor shall constitute an acknowledgment by the Contractor that it is aware of and concurs with all of the requirements or conditions incorporated in the Call for Proposal and the other documents.

As time is an essential element of this Contract, for failure to complete all work within the stipulated as set out in the Terms of Reference, the Owner shall charge the Contractor liquidated damages. This shall be in the amount of the sum of 0.5% of the total contract amount per day (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are included) but not to exceed the total of 10% (ten percent) of the contract amount. These liquidated damages shall be for the added cost incurred by the Owner for such delay and also for the inconvenience caused to the users of the Work. It is understood that this is not a penalty but a fixed sum representing the liquidated damages for each calendar day of the delay. Delay shall be counted from the agreed completion date, considering further time extensions approved by the Owner, to the date of completion of work.

Confidentiality. The results, products, and reports of this APW are to be treated as confidential and must not be handed over to third parties. The DOH and WHO have exclusive ownership of the reports and reserve the right to further disseminate relevant information. Documents, other information, and/or statistics that are not publicly available and have been provided to the contractor for the purposes of undertaking this work may not be published, further analysed, disclosed to third parties, or used for any other purpose even after the end of the contract.

The contractual partner will also provide a disclaimer on the reports: This document has been produced with the assistance of the World Health Organization. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, recommendations, or advice of the World Health Organization.

Management of Conflict of Interest. Any interest by an entity (organization/company), expert, or member of the project team that may affect or reasonably be perceived to (1) affect the expert’s objectivity and independence in providing advice to WHO related to the conduct of a project, and/or (2) create an unfair competitive advantage for the expert or persons or institutions with whom the expert has financial or interests (such as adult children or siblings, close professional colleagues, administrative unit or department).

WHO's conflict of interest Rules are designed to identify and avoid potentially compromising situations from arising thereby protecting the credibility of the Organization and of its normative work. If not identified and appropriately managed such situations could undermine or discount the value of the expert’s contribution, and as a consequence, the work in which the expert is involved. Robust management of conflicts of interest not only protects the integrity of WHO and its technical/normative standard-setting processes but also protects the concerned expert and the public interest in general.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

Education of staff involved:

• • The team lead must have at least a university degree in information technology, health or social sciences.
• • A post-graduate degree or advanced qualification in the aforementioned fields and health informatics is an advantage

EXPERIENCE

Experience required for key staff involved:

• • The team lead must have at least three (3) years of demonstrable experience in the area of information system development and implementation.
• • Familiarity with existing information systems used for NCDs in the Philippines is an advantage.
• • Previous partnership/collaboration of good standing with WHO, other UN agencies and development organizations, DOH, or other government agencies is desired.

TECHNICAL SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• • Strong programming skills using Microsoft Excel Visual Basic for Applications (e-Registry) and KoboToolbox (PoHRT)
• • Extensive knowledge and skills in training/ human resource capacity building for public health
• • Able to communicate well with DOH, WHO, partners, and other relevant stakeholders
• • Demonstrated capacity in planning, managing, and reporting activities

LANGUAGE

• • With excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Filipino.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

The contractor shall have no direct or indirect involvement or interest, in any form, in arms dealing, drugs, alcohol industry, tobacco industry or human trafficking.  The contractor and personnel involved in this work shall have no conflicts of interest in relation to the work being undertaken

Ethical and Professional Standards

• • WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
• • WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment, and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates

SUBMISSIONS

Qualified and interested specialists should submit the following documents to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at < wproungm@who.int > by 15 April 2023

• • Company Profile {for institutional applications}
• • Cover letter. The cover letter should outline how their experience and qualifications make them a suitable candidate for this bid.
• • Proposal indicating methodology, timelines and cost

Please use Tender Notice No. 196729 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.

Last day of receiving queries for this tender is on 11 April 2023