Notice E0 Phase 1 Shelf Readiness

Notice E for promoting investments in digital health global goods

openIMIS Shelf Readiness

Two-sentence overview: 

The goal of this project is to improve the open-source Insurance Management Information System (openIMIS) interoperability layer for easier and more efficient integration with other health-related systems within OpenHIE (Open Health Information Exchange) architecture, and to allow an efficient installation procedure through enhanced packaging and documentation, and thus, to align the solution with the Instant OpenHIE project and initiative. 

As the project requires total re-architecting and re-development using new open source technologies and frameworks, the team composed by Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), the designer and developer of the legacy openIMIS version, implemented in five countries, Bluesquare, the designer and developer of the new modular openIMIS version, and SolDevelo, the developer of the openIMIS FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) module with experience in integrating health systems, will join their expertise to respond to both Instant OpenHIE project requirements and openIMIS Initiative’s expectations.

Executive summary: 

This project aims to improve implementers, administrators and developers’ working experience with openIMIS. Digital Square’s investment will allow us to undertake the following activities:

  • The openIMIS FHIR module, currently based on FHIR STU3 version, will be enhanced by integrating FHIR R4 version, allowing openIMIS to support new workflows and integrations, by adding missing FHIR resources which will allow external systems to synchronise metadata satisfying dependencies, by improving authentication and authorisation mechanisms, by proposing extensions based on OpenHIE interoperability workflows, and, finally, by improving FHIR module’s documentation and quality.
  • The packaging and installation mechanisms will be enhanced based on Instant OpenHIE project’s requirements to allow a smooth installation procedure of both legacy and modular openIMIS versions. 
  • Quality assurance will be substantially improved allowing for integration and system testing mechanisms.
  • The technical documentation will be revised and redeveloped, allowing implementers and developers to install and customize openIMIS based on their implementation needs.
Consortium Team: 

Swiss TPH (Prime Organisation)

Swiss TPH is a leading institute in global health with a particular focus on low and middle-income countries with a staff strength of over 850 from 80 different nations, currently active in 300 projects across 100 countries. Swiss TPH will be responsible for technical project management, the expertise on health financing, openIMIS, drafting of business and technical specifications, supporting the system and architecture design.

Swiss TPH’s relevant experience includes involvement in the design and implementation of the Insurance Management Information System (which is the genesis of the openIMIS Initiative) since its inception in Tanzania. Since 2012, Swiss TPH has been and continues to implement two projects at scale for the deployment of insurance schemes through openIMIS, in Tanzania and Cameroon, and two openIMIS pilots in Chad and Democratic Republic of Congo. Additionally, Swiss TPH is actively involved in the development of openIMIS as part of the Implementers and Developers Committees of the openIMIS Initiative. 

Qualifications of key members of the proposed project team:

  • Dragos Dobre
    • IT System Architect (PhD. in Automatics and Computer Science, MSc. in System Engineering) at Swiss TPH
    • Management of software life cycle (from specification to development and deployment)
    • Design, development, and maintenance of open-source applications
    • openIMIS design, development and implementation experience since 2018 in implementation sites of openIMIS - Tanzania, DRC, and Chad 
    • Project Coordinator experience across international teams for GIZ openIMIS mandate
    • OMG-Certified Systems Modeling Professional™
  • Patrick Delcroix 
    • Product manager (MBA and MSc. Electronics) at Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH)
    • 6 years of experience managing ICT projects
    • 1.5 years of experience managing services
    • PMP and Prince2 Certified Project Manager 
    • Other certifications: ITILv3, Six Sigma, Scrum master

SolDevelo

SolDevelo is a dynamic Polish IT company (+80 staff) focused on delivering high-quality software and innovative solutions. SolDevelo is currently involved in several openIMIS projects, including the ‘maintenance and support project’, openIMIS FHIR module development, openIMIS integration with OpenMRS and enhancing the security of the legacy system. SolDevelo has been involved in many opportunities that required skill sets relevant to this particular project, for example, OpenMRS (core contributors), Health Level Seven International (HL7) FHIR (OpenMRS Sync 2.0 module), nationwide micro-service based implementations (OpenLMIS), nationwide OpenHIE architecture based implementations (National Health Infrastructure project with such components like OpenELIS, DHIS2, OpenMRS and many other HIE compatible applications, health standards-based workflows for the Client Registry, Facility Registry, Health Management Information System, Shared Health Record, and Interoperability Layer).

Qualifications of key members of the proposed project team:

  • Kamil Madej
    • Senior-level Java Developer/Team Leader (BSc. Engineering) at SolDevelo
    • Working in international teams for various projects/clients, like openIMIS, OpenMRS, MOTECH, Terre des hommes, Connect for Life
    • Performing code review
    • Creating high-level designs using tools for wireframing
    • Leading several frontend and backend development teams

Bluesquare

Bluesquare with their headquarters in Belgium (+40 staff), specializes in data systems and technologies in the health sector. They have gathered a unique blend of expertise in the fields of information technology, software development, data science and modelling, and public health. They work in over 30 countries developing tools and data systems for program M&E, health financing and logistics. Their central focus is to support health program teams to develop and adopt innovative solutions that support improved performance of the health systems they serve. 
Bluesquare has supported the openIMIS community since late 2018 as the partner managing the “Modular Transformation of Source Code”. They bring to this project their rich experience in digital health financing tools in support of Result Based Financing (RBF) - they manage the data systems for several of the largest RBF programs in sub-saharan Africa - including the DRC and Nigeria and a senior team of software developers. 

Qualifications of key members of the proposed project team:

  • Xavier Gillmann 
    • Full-stack software developer with over 20 years of experience in project management and software development. 
    • Deep knowledge of open source languages and frameworks. 
    • Worked for over 10 years in the health insurance sector in Europe.
    • A Master's Degree in Information Technology
    • Experience in data warehousing, mobile data collection, computation and visualization.
    • At Bluesquare, Xavier currently shares his time between openIMIS and D2d, a data and meta-data synchronization tool for DHIS2 platforms.
  • Eric Darchis
    • Full-stack software developer with over 20 years experience in very diverse domains ranging from real-time data dispatching to mobile data collection.
    • Bachelor in Computer Science 
    • Extensive experience in numerous open source technologies.
    • At Bluesquare, Eric currently shares his time between openIMIS and Trypelim, a mobile data collection and micro-planning tool for the elimination of the sleeping sickness disease in DRC.

Xavier and Eric were deeply involved in the first phase of openIMIS modular transformation: the conception and setup of the new architecture and the rewriting of the claims and locations modules.

Digital Health Atlas: 
Geographic Reach: 

Tanzania, Nepal, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad

WHO Classification: 
Health finance and information system
Application Status: 
Approved - partially funded
Application Tags: 
packaging and deployment
FHIR
containerization
product documentation and manuals
interoperability layer

Comments

Hi Dragos,

Thanks for submitting a concept note for Notice E0. Please note, concept notes should be three pages or less in length. Final concept notes are due May 22 at 5pm EDT.

Thanks,
Caitlin

Hi Caitlin,

Thanks for your comment. I updated the concept note.

Dragos 

Thanks Dragos for the note, will the FHIR hardening work within the OpenHIE Health Financing community to align to and help build out interoperability workflows for health insurance?

Hi Carl. We will improve openIMIS FHIR module to allow more workflows to be integrated. This is done by adding FHIR R4, which brings improved and new resources, and by adding new extensions. I think the OpenHIE Health Financing community and openIMIS community need to work together to define the FHIR standard coverage and associated workflows.