RE-ADVERT-Terms of Reference for Digitalization of Health and Nutrition service under Somalia Humanitarian Integrated Project (SHIP)-ECHO

1. Introduction:

World Vision International (WVI) has been working in Somalia for over three decades and is one of the largest international non-governmental organizations in country, providing multisectoral programs integrated with essential health and nutrition services. Our presence in Somalia since 1993 has allowed us to establish strong relationships with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health (MoH), regional and district health offices, local partners and community actors to expand health and nutrition programming nationally. World Vision is headquartered in Mogadishu, with main regional offices in Baidoa, Doolow, Garowe and Hargeisa, plus 13 additional sub-offices across Somalia. Currently, WV is planning to start the implementation of health and nutrition project under the Somalia Humanitarian Integrated project (SHIP) funding by ECHO in Afmadow, bardhere and Jamame Districts of Jubaland state in Somalia. To improve the patient information management (recording, referral and linkage, storage, analysis and reporting) and integration across different services and sectors, WV is planning to digitalize the health and nutrition services under SHIP project. To support the consistent and effective digitization of Health and Nutrition program records, WV developed this ToR that includes the objective, activity modules, data interoperability and minimum data quality requirements. This ToR is designed to support the engagement and contracting of partners to develop a platform/application which will be used to digitalize health and nutrition modules with optimal application standards for data quality, data security and confidentiality, ensuring uniformity of indicators with existing platforms such as DHIS2 and donor indicators, interoperability and reliability of data collected**.**

1. Project Background:

Project name: Somalia Humanitarian Integrated project (SHIP)

Donor: ECHO

Location: Afmadow, Bardhere, and Jamame districts of Somalia

Sector: Health & Nutrition, WASH, Multipurpose Cash Assistance

Duration: 18 months.

Health and Nutrition

The health and Nutrition project will be implemented at the following health facilities.

S/N

District

Facility

Facility Type

Health service

(EPHS)

Nutrition Service(OTP)

1

Afmadow/Dhobley

Bosnia Health Centre- Dhobley town

Health centre

Yes

Yes

2

Afmadhow

Waberi HC

Health centre

Yes

Yes

3

Afmadow

Dhobley HC

Health centre

Yes

Yes

4

Bardhere

Horseed

Health centre

Yes

Yes

5

Jamame

Baarka Sansuuni HC

Health centre

Yes

Yes

1. Objective of the assignment.

The Objective of this assignment is to develop the application (EMR application) based on recommended health and nutrition modules and indicators, rollout the implementation, train staffs on its use and provide monitoring support to ensure the effective utilization of the digital application and quality improvement, and provide continuous technical support to the team through 24/7 call center assistances.

Specific objective:

• The service provider will partner with WVI to development the digital Application (EMR) and configure the application.
• Provide staff training, monitoring and technical support of the platform throughout the project period.
• The service provider will conduct ToT training to selected staff from WV, MoH and ZAM ZAM. The ToT participants will further cascade the training to HF based staff who will be engaged in the transfer of patient information from registration to the digital platform.
• The service provider will include all the recommended modules to ensure the EMR is used for selected modules starting from consultation (U5 and over 5), Nutrition (screening and OTP treatments that include SAM, MAM CU5, MAM PLW) pharmacy Dispensary, Laboratory, MCH (ANC, delivery, FP, PNC) and Immunization services and ICCM+
• The partner will ensure the digital platform will interphases with DHIS2 platform which will be used for recording and generation of project reports.
• The service provider will closely work with WV recruited staffs (program managers, project coordinators, EMR and HMIS officer) who will be working continuously with the service provider to provide technical support to clinical officers, nurses and midwives who are using the digital platform at the supported health facilities.
• Through the SHIP project, WV procures tablets (per HF) which will be used at each service point and one Laptop for the EMR and HMIS officer to support the rollout and implementation of the digitalization.

1. Scope and results of the assignment

Digitalization/ EMR Focus area:

1. Developing and Configuration of activities and indicators.

The Service provider will setup the application based on the below Modules to support the digitalization of health and nutrition activities at the targeted 5 health centers. The application will take in to consideration the interoperability with government and cluster reporting platform currently used by UNICEF and other cluster members to generate indicators and other activity reports from the digital applications.

1. Modules/registers/Forms:

• OPD Over-5 Years Register – Health Centers
• OPD Under-5 Years Register – Health Centers
• Immunization (EPI) Register
• Antenatal Care (ANC) Register, Postnatal Care (PNC) Register, Labour, Delivery & Maternity Register
• Nutrition Screening Register, Registration and treatment-OTP (SAM, MAM)
• IYCF Register Book

1. Training.

The service provider will provide ToT training to 15 health workers from MoH, WV and ZAM ZAM. The ToT training will be provided at a central point in Jubaland (Dollow/Kismayo). The ToT training participant will go back to each district and cascade the training to facility-based staffs through the remote technical support from the service provider. The service provider will continue providing remote technical support and establish 24/7 help center.

1. Implementation and Reporting

The service provider will share the roadmap and activity plan for the development and implementation of the digital platform and regularly provide report/progress updates with WV. The development and installation of the platform needs to be completed within one month period as the project startup process is taking place. The full digitalization of service at Health facilities expected to fully start by the second month of the project period. Look at the implementation phase below where the service provider expected to provide progress update at each phase.

1. Staffing

WV will recruit a full time one HMIS/EMR officer who will closely work with the facility-based Nurses engaged digital health service (EMR). Additionally, WV will recruit one full time H&N project coordinator who will support the implementation of overall activities including digitalization rollout and coordinate with local partners, MoH and other partners. Furthermore, WV and MoH will assign facility who will fully dedicate to digitalizing health information at each service point nurses at each health facilities who will fully dedicate on the Digitalization of health information at each service points (see the above listed Module).

1. Project Indicators.

Indicator

Source and method of data collection

Indicator 1.1

Number of primary health care consultations (CU5 and above 5) disaggregated by sex

DHIS2 report, HF registers.

Indicator 1.2

Number of children who received community-based treatment for malaria, diarrhea and/or acute respiratory infections (disaggregated by sex)

DHIS2 report, Health Facility registers, iCCM+ register.

Indicator 1.3

Number of SGBV victims receiving assistance in less than 72 hours

Health Facility SGBV register and DHIS2 report

Indicator 1.4

Number of live births attended by skilled health personnel

HF maternity registers, DHIS2 report.

Indicator 2.1

Number of children under 5 admitted for treatment of Severe or Moderate Acute Malnutrition (disaggregated by sex)

Admission register; admission fiches of treatment facilities

DHIS2 report, CMAM Registers.

Indicator 2.2

Number of children 6 to 59 months (under 5 years) and PLWs screened for acute malnutrition (disaggregated by sex)

Screening tally sheets, ONA and DHIS2 report.

EMR System Technical Requirements

The EMR application/system should;

Key Features of the Electronic Medical Records System

Other key features of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system we are looking for should include the following:

1. Patient Data Management: The system should be able to capture patient information such as name, age, gender, contact details, and more. And enable healthcare providers to document observations, symptoms and progress.

2. Scheduling and Appointment Management: The system should integrate with Calendar for managing appointments and allow notifications and reminders for patients and providers.

3. Electronic Prescriptions (e-Prescribing): The system should allow integration with pharmacies for prescription orders, alerts for drug interactions or allergies, and refill requests and tracking.

4. Interoperability: the system should allow integration with other systems especially the MoH/UNICEF, DHIS2 and LMMSusing APIs.

5. Security and Compliance: The system should allow role-based access control for data protection, audit trails to track changes, and access and compliance with regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and Somalia Data Protection Act.

6. Analytics and Reporting: Real-time dashboards for clinical and administrative insights, customizable reports for quality metrics, patient outcomes and billing.

7. Mobile and Remote Access: The system should allow access to the EMR system via mobile devices or tablets, remote monitoring and data entry capabilities. It should be possible to use the offline version and synchronize when internet is accessible.

8. Real-time Notifications: The system should allow patient Notifications via SMS or WhatsApp

9. Technical Support and Maintenance: Post implementation support, and system maintenance plans

Other key features to be considered:

1. The system should be a shared, cloud-based deployment with centralized data management and seamless access across all the locations.
2. Offline capabilities to ensure continuity of operation in areas with intermittent or unreliable internet connectivity, e.g., data caching and synchronization to ensure data consistency across all instances.
3. The EMR implementation will strictly be for outpatient services.
4. Patient notifications via SMS or WhatsApp will be required as part of the scope
5. The system should be configured in English
6. Pharmacy dispensary should include full pharmacy management functionalities, not just dispensing information.
7. The system should have a user-friendly interface that fits healthcare providers
8. The system should have end-to-end encryption for sensitive data
9. Support scalability to accommodate future expansions

The service provider will be required to provide user documentation and manuals as well as system maintenance services.

Duration of Assignment

The assignment is expected to take 3-6 months from the start date, including design, development, testing, and deployment.

Qualification and Experience

• Demonstrated experience in designing, developing, and deploying Electronic Medical Records Systems or similar enterprise software solutions.
• Previous/current working experience within Somalia or any other fragile context health system with demonstrated hands on experience on Inter-operability with the existing MoH, health and nutrition cluster digital platforms, and DHIS2 system.
• Current presence of staff in the country for technical support and can easily travel with the country to project sites including the hard-to-reach sites where this project is located (Jamame, Afmadhow, Baardhere).
• Proficiency in software development technologies and platforms relevant to the project (e.g., cloud-based systems, APIs, DHIS, mobile applications).
• Strong understanding of workflow automation, data integration, and user-centered design principles.
• Proven track record of successfully delivering similar projects for organizations of comparable size and complexity, preferably for UN, NGOs, INGOs, or multinational organizations.
• Familiarity with electronic medical systems and policy compliance features.
• Expertise in integrating software solutions with existing systems especially of the MoH.
• Strong knowledge of data security protocols, including compliance with GDPR or other relevant data protection regulations and ability to implement robust access controls and encryption mechanisms to ensure the security and confidentiality of data.
• Clear project management methodologies and a structured approach to deliverables.
• Ability to propose creative and scalable solutions tailored to the organization’s specific needs and operational context.
• At least three references from previous clients attesting to the vendor’s expertise and performance on similar projects.

The selected vendor will be evaluated based on these qualifications alongside their proposed methodology, timeline, and cost-effectiveness.

Evaluation Criteria

The Selection of the individual or firm will be made based on cumulative analysis (i.e., mandatory requirements and technical qualifications as follows:

1. Mandatory requirements
2. Provide a certified copy of a certificate of business registration, Certificate of incorporation, business license or similar document (for Companies/Organizations)
3. Provide a certified copy of tax registration, tax clearance certificates or similar documents (Companies/Organization).

Technical Evaluation

Applicants need to clearly articulate on the following, but not limited to: –

1. A cover letter outlining the suitability of the consultant in undertaking the assignment and summarizing relevant experience in development of similar systems.
2. Precise technical proposal clearly indicating an understanding of the terms of reference, proposed software development methodology and Proposed architecture and system design of the information management system.
3. Clear work plan including outputs/deliverables and time frame for the system development.
4. Provide references from previous clients for similar works, at least three. Include names and contact information for persons who can be contacted regarding relevant experience.
5. Samples of proof of similar work undertaken – shared as attachment or URL/link
6. References.
7. Post-implementation support and maintenance plans.
8. Financial Evaluation
9. Financial proposal (budget) in USD and which should be inclusive of all applicable taxes and project related cost clearly tabulated including maintenance and support cost after handover of the system.
10. Payment Terms.
11. Credit Period.
12. Any other cost related to the assignment.

Application requirements

The application document should include the following;

• Company Profile-Organization Or CV for individual.
• Demonstrate clear Understanding of the ToR.
• Demonstrate ability to meet the functionalities sought.
• Clearly articulate the proposed software development methodology.
• Proposed architecture and system design of the Electronic Medical System.
• Samples of proof of similar work undertaken – shared as attachment or URL/link.

Application Process

All interested bidders are requested to submit their Technical Proposals and Financial Proposals in Separate documents as attachments (Bidders who will combine both technical and financial proposals shall be disqualified) via somo_supplychain@wvi.org on or before 23rd March 2024.

Bids received after the deadline shall not be considered.

Email title should be; – Development of Electronic Medical Records for the Somalia Health Care Centres

Your financial proposal should have your professional fee and any other related cost well tabulated. Financial proposal should not be part of the technical proposal, it should be a separate document

Note:

Only selected candidates will be contacted and further required to make a demo of a similar system they have developed.

For clarifications, write to somalia_procurement@wvi.org

How to apply

Application Process

All interested bidders are requested to submit their Technical Proposals and Financial Proposals in Separate documents as attachments (Bidders who will combine both technical and financial proposals shall be disqualified) via somo_supplychain@wvi.org on or before 23rd March 2024.

Bids received after the deadline shall not be considered.

Email title should be; – Development of Electronic Medical Records for the Somalia Health Care Centres

Your financial proposal should have your professional fee and any other related cost well tabulated. Financial proposal should not be part of the technical proposal, it should be a separate document

Note:

Only selected candidates will be contacted and further required to make a demo of a similar system they have developed.

For clarifications, write to somalia_procurement@wvi.org