The effective planning, management monitoring and evaluation of health services, health resources and indeed the health system requires a wealth of health information, with its simultaneous effective and efficient management. It is an instrument used to help policy-making, decision making and day to day actions in the field. The objectives of the paper are to create awareness on health information system (HIS); to highlight the importance of operational and management information systems and to examine policy designs of health management information system. First, this paper through literature search gives a broad meaning of the word SYSTEM. highlighting its general characteristics. Secondly it clarifies the meaning of health information system (HIS), and health management and health information system (HMIS). The general characteristics, problems and various types and sources of information are discussed. Thirdly it examines three basic policy designs of health management information system (HMIS) - Papua New Guinea's and Suva's and Nigeria's. Nigerian Quarterly Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol. 9, No. 2 (June 1999) pp. 127-130