Information systems in primary health care

Stressing the importance of assessing and upgrading existing systems over installing new ones, the paper reviews the following key elements of information systems: (1) information needs and the uses of health information; (2) information selection and prioritization and data collection methods such as service and activity records, surveys, censuses and enumeration, events reporting, accounting and inventory records, and informal observation; and (3) methods of improving data collection and data use. Systems based on service statistics are described and assessed. A stress on the need for strong managerial involvement concludes the study. An extensive bibliography of general and country-specific references is provided, along with a 25-item annotated bibliography (1966-82).