Requisition - Mid period stock status notifications

Target release
Epic	Requisition
Document status	DRAFTED
Priority	HIGH
eLMIS Status	Not implemented
OpenLMIS Status	Not implemented
PATH	Jenny Thompson (Unlicensed)
OpenLMIS	Mary Jo Kochendorfer (Deactivated)
JSI	Ashraf

Goals/Scope

To allow more frequent monitoring of the facility stock status of selected “tracer commodities”.

Status in eLMIS: Not in eLMIS, but in ILS Gateway used in Tanzania

Status in OpenLMIS: Not Implemented

Priority: High priority

Background

ILS Gateway

ILS Gateway is an application developed on the CommCare platform which facilitates communications between facilities and MSD on stock levels. It focuses on 20 priority “tracer commodities” rather than all products. These 20 commodities include family planning, malaria, laboratory, and some other essential supplies. It allows reporting by facilities on basic phones by structured SMS. It is currently used by 4,805 facilities – these are all low-level “ordering” facilities (non-ordering satellite facilities are excluded, also hospitals are excluded).

Facilities send information by SMS every month:

Stock status of each tracer commodity
Total losses and adjustments for each tracer commodity (not broken down by type of loss)
Whether or not the facility has submitted R&Rs (yes/no)
Whether or not the facility received a delivery (yes/no)
Whether or not the facility received a supervision (yes/no)

District supervisors receive an SMS summarizing the data from their facilities. District supervisors can also log in to a web interface to view the data.

No data is currently exchanged between ILS Gateway and eLMIS. ILS Gateway currently configures facility lists, users, etc independently of eLMIS (and also not linked to the health facility registry). Therefore district users for example have separate logins to eLMIS and to ILS Gateway.

In the long term, as the functionality of eLMIS or OpenLMIS expands to encompass this functionality, ILS Gateway may be phased out.

ILS Gateway transport module

ILS Gateway transport module assists in management and communication during delivery of commodities from warehouses to health facilities by drivers. It is also built on the CommCare platform. It is used by MSD transport managers, by truck drivers (smartphone app working on android smartphones) and by facilities (who receive an SMS).

- It helps select rational routes and monitor routes, uses GPS tracking of trucks. The driver selects the route as they leave the warehouse.

- The system sends an SMS to the facility when the truck is coming so they can prepare the people who must sign receipt of the delivery to be ready on site.

- If a truck stops the driver must give a reason to the app (facility stop, district stop, overnight, other delays etc).

- It monitors the delivery point (whether within the grounds of the facility or nearby). It also monitors number of boxes delivered and whether any were rejected by the facility, and the facility can also use the driver’s smartphone to enter feedback.

It was piloted in Mtwara, Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Tabora, but is currently extensively used only in Mwanza and Tabora.

It is built on the same platform as ILS Gateway and shares the facility list of ILS Gateway.

In the long term, as the functionality of eLMIS or OpenLMIS expands to capture more delivery functionality, some of the functionality of ILS Gateway transport module may be phased out. The model of drivers having smartphones and facilities being able to use the driver’s smartphone to enter or verify data at the time of delivery is a model which can be considered for delivery functionality in OpenLMIS for facilities who do not have access to smartphones, tablets or laptops.

Gap specifics:

In Tanzania “ILS Gateway” allows more frequent (monthly) monitoring of the stock status of high priority commodities (called “tracer commodities”), without waiting for the full quarterly R&R. This is used to support decisions to redistribute commodities or submit emergency requisitions. This data is collected via SMS. Limiting this to a small number of commodities minimises the burden on facilities of monthly stock taking and allows the data to be submitted via SMS.

Assumptions

User Stories

#	Title	User Story	Label	Importance	Notes
1	Facility stock status for tracer commodities	As a supervisor I want to receive monthly stock status from facilities for selected “tracer commodities” so that I can recommend redistributions or emergency orders.	Tanzania stock management	Must have
2	SMS data/notification	As a supervisor I want to submit stock notification via SMS so that I can remind facility users to submit their stock status data or initiate inter facility redistribution	Tanzania stock management	Must Have	For further details see the functionality of ILS Gateway.

Diagrams

Dependencies

Description	Link

Open Questions

Below is a list of questions to be addressed as a result of this requirements document:

#	Question	Outcome	Status
1	For Tanzania user stories: review the users, "so thats" added, review the label, and review the priority level.
2	Validate whether additional user stories are needed at this time, based on what is in scope for this review
3	Ashraf, Alpha Nsaghurwe (Unlicensed) and team - How important is it to have this functionality be over SMS? Has there been discussion or analysis around using a mobile app? Do we have any research or analysis on how used and useful SMS is for mid-month updates? Since OpenLMIS has stock management we may need to better understand the why before determining the best approach for solving/addressing this issue/need. More information on this would be very helpful.