Using Routine Data in Evaluations

Routine health information systems (RHIS) data—data collected at regular intervals at public, private, and community-level health facilities and institutions—have often been passed over by evaluators in favor of other data sources, such as stand-alone surveys tailored to meet specific evaluation objectives. However, in light of the costs and time required to gather primary data, now more than ever there are many reasons to consider routine and existing data. On this page, you will find guidance and briefs, a webinar on guidance, video tutorials on how to analyze routine data, and more.

Routine data are available and usually less costly to collect. Still, they come with their own set of challenges to consider and address. For example, routine data systems were not set up with research in mind, so not all indicators, time periods, and facility data will be available. This guidance document and 13 accompanying briefs describing the use of routine data in evaluations provide information from experience to help future evaluators and researchers who are considering using routine and existing data in their projects.

All of the evaluations below are from countries in Africa—with the exception of one example from the Ukraine—and covered a wide range of programs: two on tuberculosis (TB), one on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), two on anti-retroviral care and treatment (ART) for HIV, three on maternal and child health (MCH), one on family planning (FP) two on malaria control, and two on health service utilization. The evaluations often used mixed methods; however, the focus was on how routine data were used.