Comparative analysis of competency coverage within accredited master's in health informatics programs in the East African region.

OBJECTIVE: As master of science in health informatics (MSc HI) programs emerge in developing countries, quality assurance of these programs is essential. This article describes a comprehensive comparative analysis of competencies covered by accredited MSc HI programs in the East African common labor and educational zone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two reviewers independently reviewed curricula from 7 of 8 accredited MSc HI university programs. The reviewers extracted covered competencies, coding these based on a template that contained 73 competencies derived from competencies recommended by the International Medical Informatics Association, plus additional unique competencies contained within the MSc HI programs. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the structure and completion requirements of each MSc HI program. Jaccard similarity coefficient was used to compare similarities in competency coverage between universities. RESULTS: The total number of courses within the MSc HI degree programs ranged from 8 to 22, with 35 to 180 credit hours. Cohen's kappa for coding competencies was 0.738. The difference in competency coverage was statistically significant across the 7 institutions (P = .012), with covered competencies across institutions ranging from 32 (43.8%) to 49 (67.1%) of 73. Only 4 (19%) of 21 university pairs met a cutoff of over 70% similarity in shared competencies. DISCUSSION: Significant variations observed in competency coverage within MSc HI degree programs could limit mobility of student, faculty, and labor. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative analysis of MSc HI degree programs across 7 universities in East Africa revealed significant differences in the competencies that were covered.

Coverage of IMIA-recommended Competencies by Masters in Health Informatics Degree Programs in East Africa.

OBJECTIVE: The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) has provided recommendations on Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics (BMHI) as guidance on competencies relevant to education of BMHI specialists. However, it remains unclear how well these competencies have been adopted to guide emerging degree programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We evaluated comprehensiveness of IMIA-recommended competency coverage by Masters in Health Informatics (MSc HI) programs in East Africa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two investigators independently reviewed curricula for seven accredited MSc HI university programs in the East Africa region to extract covered competencies using an instrument based on the IMIA education recommendations. Descriptive statistics were used to determine competency coverage by institution and across institutions and by IMIA-defined competency domains. Duplication of competency coverage in courses within each curriculum was also evaluated. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test whether coverage of IMIA-recommended competencies differed between institutions. RESULTS: Cohen's Kappa for coding competencies within courses was 0.738 (95% CI, 0.713-0.764). Coverage of the 40 recommended required IMIA competencies by institutional curricula ranged from 25 (62.5%) to 39 (97.5%) (p < 0.0001), with only 18 (45%) of these competencies covered by all seven institutions. No significant variations in competency coverage were observed between the domains of information sciences (83.7%), health sciences (71.4%), and core BMHI competencies (83.5%) (p = 0.13). On average, each competency was covered by 3.06 courses in each curriculum (range 0 - 14). Curricula also contained 25 additional competencies not part of the IMIA recommendations, 15 of which were found only within the curriculum of a single institution. DISCUSSION: There is significant variability in coverage of IMIA-recommended competencies across MSc HI curricula evaluated, with observed duplication of competency coverage within each curriculum. The additional competencies uncovered that were not part of the IMIA-recommendations were not universally shared across institutions. CONCLUSION: The IMIA education recommendations provide a relevant, comprehensive reference guide for developing and improving health informatics degree programs within LMIC settings. Variability in competency coverage needs to be addressed for institutions within similar educational and labor regions.

Development and Usability of Mobile-based Healthcare Protocols in Kenya.

Healthcare protocols have been shown to improve the quality of health service delivery by offering explicit guidelines and recommendations for clinicians who are uncertain about how to proceed in a given clinical situation. While various modalities are used to implement protocols, few rigorous evaluations of protocol use exist in low-resource clinical settings. This study aimed to develop mobile-based protocols (MBPs) and test their usability against currently used paper-based protocol (PBPs). Satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness of the protocols were evaluated through a think-aloud usability exercise, in-depth interviews, and through a questionnaire. Compared to PBPs, satisfaction scores were higher with MBPs (83.8 versus 66.8, p=0.0498), number of errors lower with MBPs (2/25 versus 5/25, p=0.1089), with average time for task completion higher with MBPs (23.3s versus21.6s, p=0.7394). MBPs offer more satisfaction and trend towards being more effective as a dissemination modality for healthcare protocols in low-resource settings.