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Background: Low- and middle-income countries need to sustain efficiency and equity in health financing on their way to universal health care coverage. However, systems meant to generate quality economic information are often deficient in such settings. We assessed the feasibility of streamlining cost accounting systems within the Kenyan health sector to illustrate the pragmatic challenges and opportunities., Design: We reviewed policy documents, and conducted field observations and semi-structured interviews with key informants in the health sector. We used an adapted Human, Organization and Technology fit (HOT-fit) framework to analyze the components and standards of a cost accounting system., Results: Among the opportunities for a viable cost accounting system, we identified a supportive broad policy environment, political will, presence of a national data reporting architecture, good implementation experience with electronic medical records systems, and the availability of patient clinical and resource use data. However, several practical issues need to be considered in the design of the system, including the lack of a framework to guide the costing process, the lack of long-term investment, the lack of appropriate incentives for ground-level staff, and a risk of overburdening the current health management information system., Conclusion: To facilitate the implementation of cost accounting into the health sector, the design of any proposed system needs to remain simple and attuned to the local context.

Background: Hospital management information systems (HMIS) is a key component of national health information systems (HIS), and actions required of hospital management to support information generation in Kenya are articulated in specific policy documents. We conducted an evaluation of core functions of data generation and reporting within hospitals in Kenya to facilitate interpretation of national reports and to provide guidance on key areas requiring improvement to support data use in decision making., Design: The survey was a cross-sectional, cluster sample study conducted in 22 hospitals in Kenya. The statistical analysis was descriptive with adjustment for clustering., Results: Most of the HMIS departments complied with formal guidance to develop departmental plans. However, only a few (3/22) had carried out a data quality audit in the 12 months prior to the survey. On average 3% (range 1-8%) of the total hospital income was allocated to the HMIS departments. About half of the records officer positions were filled and about half (13/22) of hospitals had implemented some form of electronic health record largely focused on improving patient billing and not linked to the district HIS. Completeness of manual patient registers varied, being 90% (95% CI 80.1-99.3%), 75.8% (95% CI 68.7-82.8%), and 58% (95% CI 50.4-65.1%) in maternal child health clinic, maternity, and pediatric wards, respectively. Vital events notification rates were low with 25.7, 42.6, and 71.3% of neonatal deaths, infant deaths, and live births recorded, respectively. Routine hospital reports suggested slight over-reporting of live births and under-reporting of fresh stillbirths and neonatal deaths., Conclusions: Study findings indicate that the HMIS does not deliver quality data. Significant constraints exist in data quality assurance, supervisory support, data infrastructure in respect to information and communications technology application, human resources, financial resources, and integration.