The Mission of Village Health Works is to provide quality, compassionate community-based health care in a dignified environment while treating the root causes and the social determinants of illness, disease, violence and poverty.

Since 2007, VHW has operated a modern health center in Burundi’s Kigutu region, providing essential services where there were none. Our health model is holistic, incorporating medical treatment and disease prevention, women’s economic development cooperatives, demonstration animal and crop farming, nutrition and food security programs, educational classes for adults and children, and extensive arts and culture activities.

Our rural catchment area includes 200,000 residents, with an estimated additional 50,000 returning refugees, and new refugees from surrounding countries. VHW employs 490 Burundians, including 6 doctors, 26 nurses and 200village-based community health workers. Community members provide volunteer labor and ongoing input as VHW’s programs grow to meet their needs.

Electronic information systems and resources at VHW are implemented and managed by the Information Services Group (ISG). ISG has operated an electronic medical record system since 2009 and is migrating to the Bahmni hospital information system at this time.

EMR Specialist Position

The Electronic Medical Record Specialist will support the Bahmni system being implemented by VHW and enhance its functionality for the new Women’s Health Pavilion.

Bahmni is an open source, integrated,electronic medical record and hospital management system covering administrative, financial, clinical, lab, x-ray, pharmacy and other data, and has broad reporting capabilities. It brings together OpenMRS, OpenERP (odoo) and OpenELIS, into one flexible application, specifically designed for healthcare delivery in low resource settings. Bahmni is well documented and is supported by a vigorous global community of users, implementers and developers. It is written in Java, using Tomcat servlet engine, backed onto a MySQL database.

As VHW grows, its data collection, processing and reporting needs have also grown, requiring in-house capacity to modify data entry forms, support new ancillary programs, and generate custom reports. The EMR Specialist will lead these efforts.

Responsibilities

• Collect and document user requirements for Bahmni improvements
• Propose approaches, plans and priorities for Bahmni improvements
• Code, test, evaluate and document VHW Bahmni improvements
• Work with the Bahmni community to integrate VHW improvements into Bahmni
• Manage Bahmni upgrades and versioning
• Participate in user support and training
• Participate in programs to improve clinical data quality and security
• Participate in projects to select, develop, implement and integrate new information systems
• Compile timely, comprehensive and accurate documentation and reports as requested
• Work closely with ISG staff on medical records, ancillary health systems, and other departmental information systems
• Other duties, as appropriate, in support of the Mission of VHW

Required Skills and Experience

• Endorsement of the Mission of Village Health Works
• Demonstrated technical knowledge in the development of computer applications
• 2 years’ experience building Java-based applications
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience in computer or information science
• Expertise in PHP and Javascript coding
• Experience with Angular JS, HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery
• Experience with Tomcat, MySQL and advanced SQL scripting skills
• Mastery of, and ability to manage, the software development cycle
• Experience with Windows and Linux operation systems
• Ability to independently analyze issues, report findings, formulate recommendations and develop software solutions
• Ability to participate in the Global Bahmni community, representing VHW and the nation of Burundi
• Have a thorough analytical mind, ability to quickly learn new technologies, close attention to detail and a mature sense of responsibility
• Possess a knowledge-sharing spirit, with an ability to mentor other staff
• Ability to work creatively, flexibly and enthusiastically, both independently and part of a team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex procedures to both technical and nontechnical people
• Speak, read and write French and English fluently
• Able to live in a dormitory setting with limited amenities on VHW’s Kigutu campus
• Able to make at least a one-year commitment

Additional Desirable Skills and Experience

• Experience working with healthcare information systems, particularly OpenMRS
• Familiarity with health care delivery processes, language and culture
• Familiarity with standard medical terminology and coding systems (ICD-10, CISP-2, LOINC, ATC)
• Experience with scripting languages such as perl, python, powershell, etc.
• Intermediate competence with Microsoft Office applications
• Experience with national information systems and related documentation 

Note: This position is based full-time in Kigutu, Vyanda commune, Bururi Province. Room and board will be provided in Kigutu. To promote gender equity on our team, women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

HOW TO APPLY

This is a full-time position on the Village Health Works campus in Kigutu, Burundi and is paid in Burundi Francs at a Burundian scale.If interested, please send a cover letter, your CV, certificates proving your educational background and 3 references to: jobs@villagehealthworks.org