Consultant Roster - Data and Digital Health Specialist

Purpose of consultancy

To enhance the capacity of the Data and Digital Health (DDH) programme and support its work, a roster of qualified specialists/consultants in data and digital health is being established. This roster will feature a diverse group of specialists, in terms of technical domain, regional representation, gender balance and experience. In this context, data and digital health is taken to include all areas of strategy, policy, research and governance for digital health, development of digital public infrastructure and national digital health (enterprise) architectures, telehealth (including telemedicine), digital health literacy, cybersecurity, health data standards and interoperability and legislation for digital health applied across various health contexts including health systems and care delivery, health promotion and disease prevention, health information systems and public health.

Background

The strengthening of Digital Health is a priority area of focus identified in the European Programme of Work (EPW).The unit of the Data and Digital Health (DDH) of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems (CPS) at the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO Europe) coordinates the digital health flagship and provides technical and policy guidance and expertise on the safety and efficacy of digital health solutions; and preserving health equity, gender equality, equity and human rights as core values in their deployment. Through its work it will support countries to leverage the use of digital technologies for improving the interface between people and health services; for improving health system performance; and for strengthening critical public health functions including disease surveillance, early warning, and risk assessment. The DDH unit also provides strategic direction, technical assistance, and tailored support to countries to strengthen their capacity to be able to generate timely, credible, reliable, and actionable data. The unit seeks to develop new approaches and methodologies for the use of new digital technologies in healthcare such as telemedicine and the use of big data to complement traditional methods for timely measurement and monitoring of health status and health system performance. The main priorities for the DDH unit are articulated in the Regional digital health action plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030 (RC72).

Deliverables

Experts in the data and digital health (DDH) roster will work with WHO Europe technical units, country offices and partners to support the development of DDH products and initiatives. They will provide consultancy to strengthen all areas relevant to & impacting the implementation of DDH at national level for countries of the WHO European Region. This incorporates knowledge of a range of socio-political, technical and operational areas of DDH, such as:

·Digital health strategy, policy, governance, legislation, regulation, financing and reimbursement;

·Digital health service access and delivery including all relevant software applications and their procurement and/or ongoing development and maintenance;

·Telehealth (including telemedicine);

·Cybersecurity;

·Digital health literacy;

·Emerging trends and innovation in digital health;

·The application of standards and data quality measures to facilitate national and cross-border interoperability and sharing of data for health, including privacy and security of such data, and including the context of national efforts to implement requirements for the European Health Data Space (EHDS);

·Digital health networks & computing architectures;

·Research, ethics, gender, equity and human rights applied to digital health and the digital determinants of health;

·Digital technologies applied to the monitoring and improvement of public and population health including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), infodemic management tools, health security and emergency preparedness, climate change and health, healthy ageing, noncommunicable diseases including mental health and the broader development of regional and global digital public health goods.

In achieving the scope of work outlined in the objectives above, the consultant will deliver a portfolio with the following products and activities tailored on a case-by-case basis to the scope and nature of expertise required to meet an individual request for support made by the DDH programme:

a)Provide assistance to the DDH Programme and WHO Country Offices on strengthening DDH strategy and governance in countries, including:

-Support the development of policies and guidelines related to the equitable use of DDH in alignment with WHO's overarching strategic and programmatic objectives;

-Conduct digital health assessments that evaluate existing and proposed strategy/policy/action-plans and governance along with situational analyses and baseline evaluation of digital health implementations as per the methodologies of the WHO-ITU National eHealth Strategy Toolk, WHO Recommendations on digital interventions for health system strengthening and the Digital Implementation Investment Guide (DIIG): Integrating Digital Interventions into Health Programme, Support tool to strengthen health information systems, Support tool to strengthen telemedicine^[1] and other relevant regional technical guidance;

-Conduct mapping and analysis of existing and proposed governance models, along with the regulatory and legislative frameworks for DDH, including, in particular, legislation governing use and access to EHR;

-Provide expert and specialized advice and technical leadership on attainment of programme objectives and execution options, developing concrete proposals and implementation plans;

-Develop and integrate contributions from across the organization for strengthening health systems and public health in Member States through the implementation of appropriate digital technologies;

-Conduct research and analysis on emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges in the DDH field to inform policy development;

-Establish mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of DDH policies and assessing their impact on health outcomes, equity, and human rights;

-Evaluate policy effectiveness and recommend adjustments or revisions according to emerging evidence and best practices;

-Contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and good DDH practices through publications, presentations, and knowledge-sharing platforms.

b)Provide technical guidance and support related to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of DDH services and applications and their integration into existing national health system and public health environments, including:

-provide internationally recommended good practices related to development, implementation and functioning of DDH services and applications, including Electronic Medical/Health Records, ePrescription/eReferral/eAppointmentBooking/eVaccination systems, Clinical data registries & Clinical Decision Support Systems, Remote care and monitoring (Telemedicine/Telehealth), cybersecurity etc. as well as information on appropriate health data standards, and privacy and security measures in the context of operating these databases and applications.

-provide implementation support and guidance in countries to ensure success and scale-up of digital health and data integration activities;

-provide guidance to countries on the development of regulatory and legislative frameworks supporting digital health that enshrine gender, equity and human rights.

-provide support to improve national capacity for DDH monitoring and evaluation and adoption of quality and evaluation frameworks to assess safety and effectiveness;

-provide technical recommendations and contribute to the publication and dissemination of regional and national DDH guidance and information products;

-develop robust evaluation guidelines and increase digital health literacy;

-ensure sustainable financing and collaboration;

-address interoperability and standardize health data;

-promote patient-centred care and digital inclusion.

c)Support implementation of capacity building activities in countries to strengthen knowledge of DDH and help promote equitable access to solutions. This includes:

-support countries to develop, establish and implement digital health literacy strategies/programs.

-develop and deliver training programs, workshops, and capacity-building initiatives to enhance understanding of DDH technologies among WHO staff and Member States as part of national health system transformation programmes;

-contribute towards the implementation and facilitation of capacity building training programs on DDH for key policy/decision makers;

-respond to requests for technical support by countries regarding governance, integration, standardization and quality improvement of health data and the adoption of digital health technologies to optimize the functioning of health systems, health care and public health.

d)Promote and strengthening collaboration for digital health with partners operating at the national and regional level and through multi-country digital health networks hosted by WHO Europe. This includes:

-support with organizing and facilitating events and workshops for strengthening cooperation and collaboration between DDH experts and stakeholders and foster international cooperation and collaboration as well as the exchange of expertise;

-support the exchange of good practices and lessons learned in the adoption and implementation of DDH;

-collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to gather input and build consensus on DDH policy priorities;

-foster dialogue with international partners operating in countries to support implementation and capacity building activities for strengthening national DDH policies and strategies and promote sustainable financing for DDH.

The exact format of each individual support request is to be agreed on a case-by-case basis between CPS/DDH and the consultant prior to the commencement of any work.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential: First university degree in science/computer science/data science, digital health, public health, law or medical informatics.

Desirable: Relevant data and/or digital health specialized training and/or additional university degree in any of the above fields.

Experience

Essential:Minimum of five years combined national and international work experience in designing, implementing, managing and/or assessing DDH products, programmes and services including the design and implementation of relevant strategy and policy.

Desirable:

·Experience in management and oversight of complex DDH architectures and/or enterprise digital service implementation and operation in large scale healthcare or public health environments.

·Experience in designing and conducting workshops for a multi-stakeholder audience.

·Experience in public health or working with health ministries in delivering rolling programmes of work to achieve national health policy objectives.

Skills/Knowledge

Essential:

·Knowledge of the assessment, planning, development and implementation of projects and programmes for the digital transformation of national health systems.

·Strong communication and stakeholder management skills/strong advocate of architecture practices and vision.

·Knowledge of the incorporation of gender, equity and human rights in digital environments.

·Knowledge of international regulation/directives impacting the design of DDH solutions

·Knowledge of IT networking, enterprise architecture design, cloud computing and IT security

·Knowledge of international eHealth and health informatics standards and their application.

Desirable:

·Knowledge/Certification of proficiency in use of an internationally recognized project management methodology.

·Ability to provide technical feedback and to engage senior health policy makers in constructive dialogue if needed.

·Ability to evaluate complex issues and weigh up conflicting opinions.

·Writing skills for developing concise and comprehensive assessment and recommendation reports.

·Knowledge of the principles of public health, healthcare management and health service delivery.

·Working with national and international agencies active in the field of DDH.

Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Expert):

Essential:

Expert knowledge of English

Desirable:

Working knowledge of Russian

Location

Consultancy services could be needed for the home-based and/or on site with travel for in-country missions to support various areas of DDH work described in the deliverables. In addition, the location depends on specific projects being implemented by the programme, funding availability and/or the specific work requested.

Travel

The consultant may be expected to travel, as determined by funding availability and/or the specific work requested.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):

Remuneration will depend on the nature of work including in terms of responsibilities, complexity, required degree of specialization by the work to be performed. It will also depend upon the knowledge, qualifications, experience and skills required and applied in accordance with WHO’s national or international consultant’s pay band ranges.