Healthcare technology information system: the case study of Mozambique with an eye on global approach for developing and in-transition countries

An accurate, reliable, comprehensive and easy to use information system (IS) is a key factor for the development, monitoring and control, i.e., management, of any system. In the healthcare sector this is truer than ever, and in the sub-sector of healthcare technology management (HTM) is, sometimes, a major missing factor. When considering HTM in developing countries, an IS, is, most of the time, disregarded as a high tech instrument that does not add any value to a weak maintenance system. In addition to this common belief, available packages have been developed in and for westernised countries where HTM is different. In developed countries, the level of the economy, the profit margin and the one fits all product allow for a prolific but not exportable market. However, there have been packages written for developing countries. Unfortunately, these were products of a specific project with no background methodology or proposal for future sustainability. In Mozambique during the last 4 years, an HTM-IS system has been developed and re-written three times. It has been based on a pre-defined document, which, along the years, evolved with the package, into a full methodology document written as a framework for HTM-IS development. In this brief article, the application of the HTM-IS in Mozambique along with its results is presented. Moreover, the methodological document for developing HTM-IS is described with its major features.