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Newsletter August 2021

In June 2021, Bluesquare started a project to implement openIMIS in Niger with funding from the Belgian Development Agency Enabel. The project aims to set up openIMIS for a health insurance scheme in two districts, Gaya and Gothèye. A first version of openIMIS was deployed under the legacy architecture and most of the information necessary for adapting it to the Nigerien context has been uploaded (products, list of health facilities/regions/districts/villages, medical items/services, prices, etc.). Bluesquare and Enabel are working together to develop Standard Operating Procedures detailing the processes to be put in place in the country context. Next step is to clarify the enrollment procedures and processes and necessary training sessions accordingly.

Bluesquare, Enabel and the openIMIS community are very much looking forward to seeing openIMIS up and running in Niger!

 

Mise en œuvre prochaine en Niger

Bluesquare a entamé un projet de mise en œuvre d'openIMIS au Niger en juin 2021 grâce à un financement de l’Agence Belge de Développement Enabel. Ce projet vise à mettre en place openIMIS pour un régime d’assurances maladies dans deux districts, Gaya et Gothèye. Une première version d'openIMIS a été déployée sous l’architecture initiale et les informations nécessaires pour l’adapter au système d'assurance maladie nigérien ont été téléchargées (produits, listes des centres de santé/régions/districts/villages, soins et médicaments, prix, etc.). Bluesquare et Enabel travaillent ensemble à l’élaboration de Procédures Opérationnelles Normalisées, détaillant les processus à mettre en place dans le contexte du pays. L’étape suivante est de clarifier les procédures et les processus d'adhésion et de planifier les sessions de formation nécessaires. Bluesquare, Enabel et la communauté openIMIS sont impatients de voir openIMIS opérationnel au Niger !

 

Upcoming Implementation in Mauritania

Another openIMIS implementation project, implemented by Enabel, has recently started in Mauritania, within the PASS project financed by the European Union. The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) is supporting Enabel to implement openIMIS to help operate a voluntary health insurance system, managed by the CNASS (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Santé; National Health Solidarity Fund) during a 4-year phase (2021-2025). Initially, the system will be tested in two regions of Mauritania, namely the Nouakchott region represented by its Wilayas/arrondissements (Nouakchott South and Nouakchott North) and the Brakna region represented by three of its Moughataa/districts (Aleg, Boghé and Bababé). To ensure the successful implementation of the scheme, one of the key needs highlighted by the involved parties was to have a professional and efficient information management system established for which openIMIS has been chosen. Swiss TPH will aid in setting up the software over a six-month period as a pilot to operationalise the digitalisation efforts of the insurance programme. The pilot phase concerns a population of 190.000 inhabitants (two departments), the extension phase 400.000 inhabitants (five departments), equivalent to 10% of the country's population. 

The pilot will aim to learn from the implementation to better advise the subsequent scale up of the solution. The operational objectives of the pilot are to: 

  • Evaluate the costs related to deployment, hosting and maintenance for the "test" phase in 5 departments  
  • Install and implement the openIMIS software in 2 departments 
  • Train and assist user personnel 
  • Define a development and extension plan for the solution beyond the test phase 

We look forward to seeing openIMIS being used in this new context!  

 

Mise en œuvre prochaine en Mauritanie 

Un nouveau projet de mise en oeuvre d’openIMIS a récemment démarré en Mauritanie, dans le cadre du projet PASS (Programme d’Appui au Secteur Santé) financé par L’Union Européenne et mise en œuvre par l’Agence de Développement Belge ENABEL. L’Institut Suisse de Santé Tropicale et Publique (Swiss TPH) soutient Enabel dans la mise en œuvre openIMIS pour appuyer le fonctionnement d’un régime d’assurance maladie volontaire, géré par la CNASS (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Santé) pendant une phase de 4 ans (2021-2025). Dans un premier temps, le système sera testé dans deux régions de la Mauritanie, à savoir la région de Nouakchott représentée par ses Wilayas/arrondissements (Nouakchott Sud et Nouakchott Nord) et la région du Brakna représentée par trois de ses Moughataa/départements (Aleg, Boghé et Bababé). Pour garantir la réussite de la mise en œuvre du programme, l’un des besoins clés mis en évidence par les parties concernées était de disposer d’un système de gestion de l’information professionnel et efficace pour lequel openIMIS a été choisi. Swiss TPH contribuera à la mise en place du logiciel sur une période de six mois, en tant que pilote, pour opérationnaliser les efforts de digitalisation du régime d’assurance. La phase pilote concerne une population de 190.000 habitants et la phase d’extension 400.000 habitants, soit 10% de la population du pays. Le pilote visera à tirer les leçons de la mise en œuvre pour mieux conseiller la mise à l’échelle ultérieur. Les objectifs opérationnels du pilote sont de :  

  • Evaluer les coûts liés au déploiement, à l’hébergement et à la maintenance pour la phase « test » dans 5 départements 
  • Installer et implémenter le logiciel openIMIS dans 2 départements 
  • Former et assister le personnel utilisateur 
  • Définir un plan de développement et d’extension de la solution au-delà de la phase test.  

Nous sommes impatients de voir openIMIS être utilisé dans ce nouveau contexte! 

 

Prioritising new features for openIMIS

Since March of 2021, the openIMIS community has been engaged in collecting ideas about future functionality for openIMIS. Currently, the community is discussing each of the new function in detail and prioritising it according to various aspects selected by the community. So far, we have collected over 40 feature ideas and would like to hear from various practitioners on practical use cases for these features.  

Please follow the progress of the review of features on our wiki. If you would like to join the calls, please reach out to [email protected]. We would like to engage as many practitioners as possible in this work as it will help us develop openIMIS further as a tool that answers the needs of users.

 

5 years of openIMIS in a timeline 

As part of the 5th anniversary, we want to look back on what the openIMIS community has accomplished. To illustrate what we achieved in the last few years, we have created a timeline that allows you to travel through the milestones of the last five years. Many thanks to all who sent us pictures and information and took the trouble to search their archives for pictures. Without the community, none of this would have been possible. You can visit it here

If you have any material that would enrich the timeline, please send it to us at [email protected]. We are very much looking forward to further contributions.  

openIMIS Interactive Timeline

 

Virtual timeline, testimonials, slogan for the anniversary campaign

openIMIS Interactive Timeline Quotation

 

As part of the openIMIS 5th Anniversary campaign, we would like to look back on what we have achieved throughout the years. Rather than just capturing technical advances and numbers related to the software, lets also focus on those who brought us there – the community. Show us your highlights and memories linked to openIMIS – whether these document funny situations with the community, bold strikes in implementations at place or your eye-opening moments in software development. There are three ways how you can contribute: 

  1. Upload your memories (stories, pictures, or videos) here or send them to us by mail. Due to private policy guidelines please also fill out this declaration of consent and send it to [email protected]. We will coordinate and post the files on sutori.com, an interactive timeline. 
  2. Give us a personal testimonial via this openIMIS wiki page. Just follow the instructions there.
  3. The openIMIS 5th Anniversary needs a catchy slogan! Please help us to come up with something that will guide us through the campaign. Get more info's and enter your ideas here