Development and implementation of an electronic family folder for population enumeration and national program linkage in urban primary care: Experience from North India
Usha Thakur, Anupam Parashar, Tripti Chauhan
A
BSTRACT
Introduction:
Family-centered electronic health information systems can strengthen primary healthcare by linking household-level data with national health programs. However, evidence on their implementation in India remains limited. This study developed and implemented a family-linked electronic health information system (electronic family folder) using the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) Tracker platform for household enumeration, beneficiary identification, and linkage of beneficiary information from selected national health programs within a unified family-centered database.
Methods:
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2021 to October 2022 at urban health center in a hilly region of northern India. Unlike conventional program-specific databases, electronic family folder employed a household-centered architecture that linked individual health records to a unique family identifier. This approach enabled simultaneous tracking of beneficiaries across multiple health services, including reproductive and child health, non-communicable diseases, and tuberculosis.
Results:
The electronic family folder established linked electronic records for 300 households and 1,111 individuals through unique family and individual identifiers. The system facilitated identification and electronic tracking of 176 eligible couples, 26 antenatal women, 66 children under five years, 130 adolescents, 127 individuals with non-communicable diseases, and 20 individuals with tuberculosis within a single family-linked database. Nuclear families constituted 77.7% of households, and the literacy rate among individuals aged seven years or older was 92.0%. Among the 176 eligible couples, 87.5% had received Nischay kits, and 86.4% were using contraceptive methods.
Conclusions:
Electronic family folder was a feasible family-linked electronic health information system for household-level population enumeration, beneficiary identification, and linkage of information from selected national health programs.