In an effort to provide more efficient services at the Georgetown Public Hospital, the first phase of the highly anticipated electronic medical record system was launched on Friday.
The electronic medical record system is expected to be rolled out over the next three years. On Friday, Advisor to the Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy commissioned the first installment of the system at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
He said the adoption of this system will pave the way for new advanced methods of patient care.
“Having an electronic health record in place is a significant development. Very soon all the clinics will be able to access results in real time.
“I know that we are putting in place the arrangement for the pharmacy and the laboratory to have inter-operable capacity so that they can link into the electronic medical record that is being pioneered here,” Dr Ramsammy said.
In July the first set of patients were added to the electronic record system at the hospital’s medical clinic. Using this system, a patient’s records will be available at the click of a finger through a system that links data from all departments of the hospital.
The system will soon be expanded to all hospitals and health facilities for more reliable and efficient data-keeping.
Chief Executive Officer of the hospital Robbie Rambarran said the aim is to have a seamless transition for the staff using this new software that was imported from India.
“We wanted to ensure that many things are in…we want to make it more seamless, more user friendly in a sense that when we implement it must not a task that we will get resistance or a push back from the staff but it must be something that they adapt very easily too,” the CEO said.
Rambarran also said that the Information Technology team and a local company that can respond to the needs of the software equipment have provided much-needed support throughout this process.
This system is also made possible through collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Health and the Pan-American Health Orgsnisation and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
“I know that it first takes time and I knew the basic component was the talent and human capacity and that is something that we clearly have and we had to go ahead because we have the talent and the commitment and the leadership,” Dr Daniel Albert, a representative from PAHO said.
Efforts have also been made to procure additional equipment to ensure that all necessary steps are in place for a smooth flow of electronic medical record keeping.
In addition to this electronic record system, the Data Protection Bill will soon be tabled at the National Assembly.
The Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony previously disclosed that this Bill, once it comes into operation, will have stiff fines starting from $20 million and going up to $100 million if persons are found in breach of data confidentiality.
The electronic health records system, upon which the data protection legislation lays the foundation, aims to assign each patient a unique identifier so that their records can be easily accessed within healthcare facilities across the country.
