5. Harness appropriate technologies

When used appropriately, advances in technology and telecommunications can transform health systems by supporting health workers at their jobs and helping their supervisors understand performance. Mobile health tools and interventions, known as mHealth, have been documented to improve HRH performance, including in the following ways:

• Data collection and reporting: providing timely information on services the health worker delivered;
• Electronic decision support: providing easily accessible job aids or use clinical algorithms to support health workers to provide care according to defined standards;
• Provider-provider communication: allowing health service providers to exchange knowledge, solve problems, give advice, and other support;
• Provider work planning and scheduling – for example, to automate and/or communicate health worker shifts which may be linked to client flows or other service needs;
• Provider training and education: video or blended learning modules, SMS prompts, or interactive voice response (IVR) systems can reduce classroom time and keep health workers at their posts;
• Human resource management: mHealth tools to populate, update, or review HRH information systems (HRHIS);
• Supply chain management: systems to quantify and communicate anticipated drug needs to keep health workers well equipped;
• Financial transactions and incentives: online/mobile banking to streamline payroll processes  (Agarwal et al., 2017).

An array of examples of how technology is being used to improve training, monitoring and communication for healthcare workers can be found in the articles from (Long et al., 2018) and (Lapão & Dussault, 2017).