Consultant Assessment Of The Red Cross Red Crescent Health Information System RCHIS Technology

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

The Health And Care Department’s New Strategic Direction 2023 Focuses On Health Systems Strengthening And WASH Systems Strengthening Through 4 Pillars

Pillar 1: Global Health Security

Pillar 2: Global Health Protection (UHC)

Pillar 3: Global WASH Services

Pillar 4: Transformative Partnership

The 4 Pillars under Health Systems Strengthening and WASH Systems Strengthening are supported by 4 Enablers:

Enabler 1: Health and Care Department Re-designing

Enabler 2: IFRC Regional and Country Health Infrastructure

Enabler 3: National Society Leadership on Health and WASH

Enabler 4: Digital Solutions and Data

The IFRC has a digital solution called the Red Cross and Red Crescent Health Information System (RCHIS) which is an electronic medical record system developed internally over the past several years to strengthen the quality, safety, and accountability of patient care and health operations in humanitarian emergency response.

While the product has evolved functionally, it has not yet been deployed at scale. Given the rapid pace of technology change and the increasing interoperability standards in the health information domain, there is a growing need to assess RCHIS’s current architecture and determine the best technical path forward.

The IFRC currently lacks in-house development capacity and sustainable long-term funding to maintain a proprietary system. At the same time, global health ecosystems have matured significantly — notably through open-source platforms such as OpenMRS, Ozone HIS, OpenHealthStack, etc.

To ensure RCHIS remains robust, sustainable, and modular, an external technical assessment is required.

Job Purpose

The objective of this consultancy is to conduct a comprehensive technical and architectural assessment of RCHIS, and to provide a recommendation on the most suitable future technical approach to ensure sustainability, modularity, and interoperability.

The Assessment Should Help Determine Whether To

• Continue maintaining and improving RCHIS as-is;
• Adopt a hybrid model (e.g., RCHIS frontend + OpenMRS backend via API adapter); or
• Migrate fully to an established open-source EMR or alternative solution.
  
  
  

Job Duties And Responsibilities

The consultant/firm will:

• Assess the Current RCHIS Technical Stack
• Review all components: frontend, backend, database structure, APIs, integrations, and hosting/security setup.
• Evaluate codebase quality, documentation, modularity, scalability, and alignment with health data standards (FHIR/HL7).
• Identify critical technical debt and maintenance risks.
• Assess Functionality and Feature Gaps
• Map current RCHIS features against a baseline set of EMR functionalities (patient management, pharmacy, lab, reporting, clinical workflows).
• Review backlog/requests (e.g., pharmacy, lab, partogram modules) and assess how they could be implemented efficiently.
• Benchmark and Explore Technical Options
• Compare RCHIS against relevant open-source EMR frameworks (e.g., OpenMRS, OpenHealthStack, Ozone HIS).
• Evaluate interoperability options (FHIR-based APIs, adapter layers, etc.).
• Assess pros/cons, costs, and sustainability of each technical path.
• Provide Recommendations
• Recommend the most appropriate future architecture (e.g., hybrid, integration, or migration).
• Outline a high-level roadmap for transition, estimated resource needs, and governance implications.
• Propose measures to make RCHIS more modular, maintainable, and aligned with digital health standards.
  
  
  

Methodology

The Consultant Is Expected To

• Conduct desk review of RCHIS documentation and code (access to be provided).
• Interview key stakeholders (RCHIS technical team, digital health lead, emergency health team, possibly health focal points within National Societies and EMT communities).
• Benchmark against at least two relevant open-source EMR platforms.
• Present interim findings for feedback before finalizing recommendations.
  
  
  

Deliverables

• Inception Report – detailing methodology, timeline, and data sources.
• Draft Assessment Report – including architecture analysis, feature gap summary, and preliminary recommendations.
• Final Report and Presentation – comprehensive assessment and clear recommendation on the most sustainable technical path for RCHIS.
  
  
  

Timeline

The work should commence as soon as possible and be completed by mid-December 2025, with all deliverables finalized no later than 31 December 2025.

Indicative duration: up to 30 working days (exact duration to be proposed by consultant).

Management and Reporting

The consultant will report to the Digital Health Lead and work in close coordination with the RCHIS product team, emergency health team, and technical stakeholders.

Key reference groups may include the EMT community and other Red Cross digital health initiatives.

Experience

Required

• Proven experience in health information systems and EMR architecture (OpenMRS, OpenHIE, etc.).
• Experience conducting technical assessments or system audits.
  
  
  

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required

• Strong understanding of FHIR/HL7, and digital health interoperability frameworks.
• Ability to provide actionable recommendations and roadmap planning.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and writing skills.
  
  
  

Competencies, Values and Comments

Application Instruction

Please submit your application in English only.

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