Hi Fernando,
Below is an extract from the MEASURE Evaluation guidance Using DHIS 2 Software to Track Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV. In this guidance, we’ve explained some of the key steps you need to think through when creating a Tracker, including the correct configuration of dates etc. (The Guidance relates to version 2.27, but the use of dates has remained the same - probably the only major change is that users can now change incident dates after enrolment as long as no events have been scheduled based on that date.)
The Importance of Dates in the Tracker
A number of different dates need to be configured when setting up a PMTCT Tracker, and it is worth carefully reviewing these before you create your programs and program stages. The terminology for dates is not always consistent in the DHIS 2 documentation, and dates are one of the most common areas of confusion encountered when configuring a DHIS 2 Tracker. This section provides an overview of the different dates used by the Tracker along with specific guidance on how to configure them for the PMTCT Tracker.
A program has two dates associated with it; both are important, because DHIS 2 uses them to restrict data entry and to calculate due dates and notifications:
- Enrollment date: Although you can set this to be whatever you date choose (the label is configurable), it is usually the date in which the patient enrolled in the program of care.
- Incident date: This is a key date in the patient’s pathway that you typically choose as the base date from which visit schedules and notifications are calculated. (There is also a setting that lets you use the enrollment date instead for these schedules and notifications.)
Note that both of these dates need to be entered when you enroll a patient into the program, and the dates cannot be changed once they are entered. [Limited changes are possible in later versions of DHIS2.] Both enrollment date and incident date can be used only for aspects of a program of care that are already known at the time of enrollment (e.g., “actual delivery date” would be appropriate as an incident date for a postnatal program of care but not for a PMTCT program of care, because it is not known at the time of enrollment in PMTCT).
The program stage does not have any dates associated with it.
Each event has two dates associated with it:
- Due date: This is the future date on which an event should ideally occur; it can be automatically prompted by DHIS 2 (by setting the program stage’s “Scheduled days from start” or its “Standard interval days”), or it can be set by staff when they use the calendar icon in the patient dashboard to schedule a future appointment.
- Event date : This is the date entered by staff (or sometimes automatically generated) to show when the event actually occurred. (In different parts of DHIS 2, this is also referred to as “Execution date” or the event’s “Report date.”)
If you schedule an event to happen in the future, then this upcoming event will have a due date, but it will not have an event date yet. After you convert the scheduled event or booking to an actual (completed) event or visit, an event date is also recorded for it. If you create an event or visit directly, without first scheduling it, then only the event date is important (the due date will still be populated with a default value, but it will be ignored by DHIS 2).
I hope this helps clarify Tracker dates for you - please let me know if you have any further questions.