Data: HFA

Health Facility Assessment (HFA) data captures point-in-time snapshots of facility characteristics - infrastructure, equipment, staffing, and service readiness. Unlike HMIS data which flows continuously from routine reporting, HFA data comes from periodic surveys conducted at specific “time points” (such as “Round 1” or “Baseline December 2024”). This survey-based structure shapes how you import and manage HFA data in FASTR.

What HFA data includes

HFA surveys collect information about facilities not captured in routine reporting: availability of essential equipment, stock levels of medicines, presence of trained staff, and infrastructure like water and electricity. This data complements HMIS by providing context about facility capacity - helping explain why some facilities perform differently than others.

Required files

Each HFA import requires two files:

• CSV data file - one row per facility with columns for each survey question. The first column should contain facility identifiers matching your registry.
• XLSForm questionnaire file - defines the survey structure following the XLSForm standard. FASTR reads this to extract variable names, question labels, and value labels.

Import workflow

Navigate to the Data section and select HFA Data. Click Start new import to begin a four-step process.

1. Upload files. Select or upload both your CSV data file and XLSForm questionnaire file.

2. Configure mapping. Specify which CSV column contains facility identifiers. Then select the time point this data belongs to from the list of time points defined in your instance.

3. Stage the data. Click Start staging to validate facility IDs, match columns to XLSForm definitions, and expand “select multiple” questions into individual variables. The staging summary shows total rows, valid rows, rows skipped for missing estimates, and rows skipped because their disaggregation value was not recognized. If any rows are skipped for an unrecognized disaggregation, sample values are shown to help you identify the mismatch.

4. Review and integrate. Check the summary statistics and click Integrate and finalize to complete. If any rows were skipped due to an unrecognized disaggregation, the completion screen also reports this count and sample values.

Time points

HFA data is organized by time points rather than continuous periods. Before importing data, create your time points on the HFA Time Points page. Each time point has a label and a calendar period (year and month). Time points define the named rounds - such as “Round 1” or “Baseline Dec 2024” - that appear throughout the platform.

After importing, use the HFA Time Points page to edit labels, adjust dates, reorder, add new time points, or delete individual survey rounds. Deleting a time point removes all its data and sampling weights.

Validation details

Rows can be dropped during staging for several reasons: missing facility IDs, facility IDs not in your registry, duplicate facilities within a single import, or a disaggregation value not recognized by the platform. The staging summary shows each category separately. If you see many “Facility Not Found” entries, check whether your facility registry needs updating. If you see rows skipped for an unrecognized disaggregation, check that the disaggregation values in your CSV match the platform’s expected values.

XLSForm handling

FASTR extracts survey structure from your XLSForm to provide meaningful labels throughout the platform. Variable names become technical identifiers. Labels appear in visualizations and reports. Value labels map numeric response codes to descriptive text.

For “select_multiple” questions, FASTR automatically expands each choice into a separate binary variable - a question with five options becomes five yes/no indicators.

The variable name weight is reserved for facility sampling weights and cannot be used as a survey variable name. If your XLSForm contains a variable named weight, rename it before importing.

Working with HFA data

Once imported, HFA data flows into the analytical pipeline alongside HMIS data. Modules can reference HFA variables in their calculations, and visualizations can display facility assessment results. Because HFA represents discrete survey rounds rather than continuous reporting, it’s typically used for cross-sectional comparisons rather than time trends.