A knowledge information and data system for rural health Ram K. Iyengar, Ph.

D Technovations International Inc (TII), Groton MA 01450 And Dr. Sharad D Iyengar, MD Action Research and Training in Health (ARTH) Udaipur India. Background Organizations that serve the rural populations have to continuously adapt and improve to be successful. Rural workers and healthcare givers that can learn and act quickly based on the knowledge are more effective and highly efficient. Therefore every person in the rural health workforce needs to perceive learning as a key to continuously improve his or her work efficiency and effectiveness. Communicating and sharing information on health management and healthcare at all levels can make rural health system more efficient by ensuring that the health workers know what the key goals and targets are and are able to track their exact status of health in women and new born in real time using the new innovations in telephony (cellular phones), internet and wireless data acquisition systems. As part of the health management system, the entire health workforce including medical professionals, health managers, health service providers, and supervisors should have immediate access to the information they need to sustain improvement in healthcare delivery. By giving the health workforce the specific information where and when needed, delivered in the most appropriate manner, the medical professionals can improve the overall ability to monitor health, and act in a timely manner. An interactive system can provides specific knowledge, information, instructions, data and documentations in rural health management practices, preventive healthcare, dietary and sanitation management and regular health monitoring. This interactive system ensures continuous improvement and development of rural health care system with a multi-media communication system that includes specific instructions in the areas of preventive health care, health management and delivery, safety and environment management at the lowest cost. The system uses innovative multimedia techniques to achieve the following goals: 1. Provide specific interactive instructions, standard & best practices, and knowledge & experience based instructions to rural healthcare workers, supervisors, managers and other workforce for efficient delivery of health care solutions with cost control; 2. Develop web based online transfer of information, data and records on targets achieved, health status & health incidences, environmental, etc. This enables health management to take quick decisions to remedy any deviations.

3. Provide a forum to the rural health workforce for discussion of opportunities for continuous improvement in healthcare solutions and delivery. 4. Develop a project management basis for increasing efficiency in health management. The system involves health workers via computers connected to the network and the VPN at the various health centers of ARTH. By making connectivity to the automation systems through a mobile data device, health workers and medical practitioners can increase their efficiency in health delivery. The Knowledge, information and data transfer Progress in multimedia technology has enabled development of interactive and instantaneous transfer of relevant knowledge, information and documentation to the health workforce at the health centers. This capability of instantly accessing the relevant information on the computer or a data device at the health centers enhances the comprehension and increases the efficiency of the health workforce. Some critical health procedures can be presented with real or virtual simulation with the help of video & audio and animation. The system also provides specific guidelines on post treatment life style, dietary recommendations, etc. The main features of the rural healthcare delivery system are: Provide interactive knowledge, information & data on standard and best operating practices, health advisory, sanitation and environmental management and proper procedure for health delivery. Rural healthcare workforce can access specific data and information required to do their tasks efficiently, on a need to know basis, to implement best practices for maintaining health in the community they serve. Provide a readily accessible archive of the standard & best healthcare delivery practices, patients status and feedback, and any relevant information for the maintenance of healthy life style. Provide access to health maintenance, sanitation and environmental guidelines. The visualization of standard & best health delivery practices using videos, and animation help the health delivery workforce to find innovative solutions to commonly encountered health problems and ensure continuous improvement in the rural health environment. The simulation, exercises, animations, graphics video & audio stimulate and maintain the attention the health workforce and participation of patients and in their own health management. The dissemination of information, data and knowledge ensure that the health workforce is able to understand and deliver the standard and best health practices efficiently. The disclosure of health practices and procedures with the use of multimedia technology ensures that the rural health workforce is fully well aware of the tasks and sequence of steps that comprise good to best health delivery practices and procedures. Through many years of experience working in the rural areas of Rajasthan, ARTH has gathered considerable knowledge and information on health

management and delivery. The system collects and consolidates this knowledgebase and presents them in a manner that encourages further innovation in heath delivery and management. In addition, the published literature on rural health and other global knowledge and experience-based sources are mined, upgraded, refined and documented in the system to maintain and enhance the awareness of the rural health workforce. The documentation system ensures an interactive on time health data entry and reporting on a web based and/or mobile system. The information is hosted on ARTHs intranet or server. The system includes patient related, medical and other information on the major health issues such as HIV, TB, polio etc., to provide a better understanding of developing a life style for their prevention.