The Integrated District Evidence to Action strategy (IDEAs) develops and systematizes data-driven decision-making to strengthen health system capacity to improve maternal, newborn, and child health services. 

For over a decade, HAI partnered with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s African Health Initiative and Mozambique’s Ministry of Health to improve maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) service delivery and outcomes in Central Mozambique. Out of this partnership, HAI developed the IDEAs strategy to identify contextually appropriate solutions to gaps in MNCH service delivery using routine health information system data.

The IDEAs strategy is a three-step cycle that occurs on a regular basis. First, health facility and regional managers begin by assessing health system readiness and conducting data quality audits.  Next, managers come together at District Performance Review and Enhancement Meetings (DPREM) to:

• Review performance, including facility and district-level performance measures;
• Identify priority problems and their potential causes; and
• Develop action plans, including roles & responsibilities, required resources, and timeline;

In the third step of the cycle, provincial, district, and facility leadership are held accountable to supporting the implementation of these solutions through ongoing mentoring and financial support to address health system limitations. Progress against action plans and key output indicators are then reviewed at the following DPREM meeting.

The intervention has resulted in noticeable improvements in data quality and health system readiness. And health systems stakeholders have reported an increased ability to understand and use data for resource allocation.

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