Developing A Central Analytic Repository To Improve Decision Making By Stakeholders

Abstract

Abstract BackgroundThe rise in data analytics has resulted in the need for data to be pooled into centralized large-scale repositories to support more organized analytics. In the health sector, housing health data in a central analytic repository makes it easier for policymakers to access and make faster, more efficient informed decisions that impact the population, especially in cases of emergencies and disease outbreaks. Our study aimed to develop a centralized health data analytics repository for Nigeria called the Multi-Source Data Analytics and Triangulation (MSDAT) platform to improve decision-making by stakeholders.MethodsThe MSDAT design and development was a data and user-centred process guided and informed by the perspectives and requirements of analysts and stakeholders from the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria. The inclusion of health indicators and data sources on the platform was based on: (1) national relevance (2) global health interest (3) availability of datasets and (4) specific requests from stakeholders. The first version of the platform was developed and iteratively revised based on stakeholder feedback.ResultsWe developed the MSDAT for the purpose of consolidating health-related data from various data sources. It has 4 interactive sections for; (1) indicator comparison across routine and non-routine data sources (2) indicator comparison across states and local government areas (3) geopolitical zonal analysis of indicators (4) multi-indicator comparisons across states.ConclusionThe MSDAT is a revolutionary platform essential to the improvement of health data quality. By transparently visualizing data and trends across multiple sources, data quality and use are brought to focus to reduce variations between different data sources over time and improve the overall understanding of key trends and progress within the health sector. Hence, the platform should be fully adopted and utilized at all levels of governance. It should also be expanded to accommodate other data sources and indicators that cut across all health system areas.