Strengthening health systems that support service delivery is necessary in order to achieve national health goals and to improve health outcomes. HSS worked closely with the Jordan Ministry of Health to establish and/or strengthen critical systems and to build its capacity to implement them as well.
Under HSS II, the technical strategy moves beyond capacity building and training as the primary approach to institutionalizing health systems. HSS II interventions address the organizational constraints to institutionalization, such as policy barriers and organizational resistance, and encourage leaders and change agents to champion the adoption and use of health systems.
A practical example of this broadened approach to institutionalization is the new technical area and health system of Knowledge Management (KM). Through a thorough diagnosis of decision-making processes, data-use and knowledge practices, HSS II’s interventions focus on infrastructure, systems and leaders to champion the KM practices. HSS II uses similar approaches in other systems areas to identify change agents and interventions needed to not only strengthen the system but make its’ use routine.
HSS II promotes principles and practices of knowledge management so Ministry of Health policymakers, directors and managers will routinely use data in all aspects of the work. Moreover, HSS II works closely with the ministry’s counterparts to foster an organizational value of “performance excellence”.
To achieve this goal, HSS II Knowledge Management and Performance approaches focus on three strategic objectives:
- Establishing and promoting knowledge management practices and culture
- Strengthening the ministry’s Information Technology infrastructure and staff capacity to enable knowledge management
- Strengthening the ministry’s Performance Assessment Unit to promote a culture of performance excellence