title: Updating a patient-level ART database covering remote health facilities in Zomba district, Malawi: lessons learned.
abstract: METHODS
  A non-governmental organization, Dignitas International, working in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Malawi, adopted innovative, low-technology methods to collect, capture, and manage patient-level antiretroviral therapy (ART) data in a district database covering 26 remote low-resource facilities in Zomba District, Malawi.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To establish a longitudinal, observational database of routinely collected program data that could serve as a program monitoring and evaluation tool as well as a platform to conduct effective operational research.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article describes the processes developed for digital capture of paper-based ART clinical records at health facilities and updating them in a central electronic database. It documents and focuses on lessons learned during the implementation and review of processes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data quality can only be ensured with regular review of, and compliance with, clearly delineated workflow protocols and adequate staffing and supervision. Through the implementation of this procedure, we expect to improve data quality, completeness, and use of routine ART clinical data in low-resource settings.
authors.affiliation: Dignitas International, Zomba, Malawi ; Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Dignitas International, Zomba, Malawi.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
authors.affiliation: Dignitas International, Zomba, Malawi ; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ; University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sodhi
authors.affiliation: Dignitas International, Zomba, Malawi.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matengeni
authors.affiliation: Dignitas International, Zomba, Malawi ; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ; Temmy Latner Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bezanson
authors.affiliation: Dignitas International, Zomba, Malawi.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: van Schoor
authors.affiliation: Dignitas International, Zomba, Malawi ; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Lettow
keywords: data quality; evaluation; low-technology data collection; monitoring