title: The human resource information system: a rapid appraisal of Pakistan's capacity to employ the tool.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human resources are an important building block of the health system. During the last decade, enormous investment has gone into the information systems to manage human resources, but due to the lack of a clear vision, policy, and strategy, the results of these efforts have not been very visible. No reliable information portal captures the actual state of human resources in Pakistan's health sector. The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided technical support for the assessment of the existing system and development of a comprehensive Human Resource Information System (HRIS) in Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  The questions in the WHO-HRIS Assessment tool were distributed into five thematic groups. Purposively selected (n=65) representatives from the government, private sector, and development partners participated in this cross sectional study, based on their programmatic affiliations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-five percent of organizations and departments have an independent Human Resources (HR) section managed by an establishment branch and are fully equipped with functional computers. Forty-five organizations (70%) had HR rules, regulations and coordination mechanisms, yet these are not implemented. Data reporting is mainly in paper form, on prescribed forms (51%), registers (3%) or even plain papers (20%). Data analysis does not give inputs to the decision making process and dissemination of information is quite erratic. Most of the organizations had no feedback mechanism for cross checking the HR data, rendering it unreliable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pakistan is lacking appropriate HRIS management. The current HRIS indeed has a multitude of problems. In the wake of 2011 reforms within the health sector, provinces are even in a greater need for planning their respective health department services and must work on the deficiencies and inefficiencies of their HRIS so that the gaps and HR needs are better aligned for reaching the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Systems & Policy, Health Services Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan. shaikh.babar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Babar Tasneem
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Shaikh
authors.forename: Jamil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Zulfiqar
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Sayed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mursalin
authors.forename: Mahmood Iqbal
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Memon
authors.forename: Shagufta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zareen
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems / Q000592:standards*; D010154:Pakistan; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000592:standards*; D014944:World Health Organization
references.citation: Health Policy. 2009 Apr;90(1):13-25
references.pmid: 18838188
references.citation: East Mediterr Health J. 2010;16 Suppl:S145-51
references.pmid: 21495600
references.citation: Healthc Policy. 2012 Aug;8(1):24-32
references.pmid: 23968601
references.citation: J Pak Med Assoc. 2009 Jan;59(1):10-4
references.pmid: 19213369
references.citation: East Mediterr Health J. 2006 May-Jul;12(3-4):331-9
references.pmid: 17037702
references.citation: Hum Resour Health. 2011 Feb 17;9:6
references.pmid: 21329516
references.citation: J Pak Med Assoc. 2006 Dec;56(12 Suppl 4):S78-93
references.pmid: 17595835
references.citation: Hum Resour Health. 2012 Apr 30;10:7
references.pmid: 22546089
references.citation: J Nurs Manag. 2009 May;17(4):415-25
references.pmid: 19531141
references.citation: Public Health. 2006 Feb;120(2):142-4
references.pmid: 16330057
references.citation: Biosci Trends. 2011 Dec;5(6):245-54
references.pmid: 22281538
references.citation: Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica. 2011 Jun;28(2):327-36
references.pmid: 21845315
references.citation: Biosci Trends. 2008 Apr;2(2):75-80
references.pmid: 20103905