In the era where information is on our fingertips and every data stored securely in the cloud, it is imperative that our health details are readily available on request for use during emergencies and also fasten the delivery of healthcare. The good news is, Ghana is making positive strides towards modernization of its public health system.
A US based health company with over 25,000 clients across the globe known as Lightwave eHealthcare Services (LWEHS) has been engaged by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide a patient-centered health care solution which includes the most advanced library of compliance technology complete with a 24 hour always-on centralized data centre.
“Ghana is at the absolute time with the technologies, the budgets, the preparedness all meeting together to launch its e-health”
This system will integrate with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) connecting all health facilities to provide health records to health professionals and pave way for telemedicine while developing a true time based bio-surveillance system to monitor disease outbreaks and its spread across the nation hence ensuring the smooth-running of admission, discharge and transfer process involved in health care delivery.
This project has been on trial basis and was launched on the 5th of December, 2016 at Kasoa Polyclinic. It attracted an assembly of healthcare professionals, hospital administrators and government officials. The paperless eHealth project has currently kicked off in five districts in the central Region.
Mr Alex Segbefia, Minister of Health, at the project launch admonished the fact that the platform can curtail the cost of treatment, ease referral systems while making certain of privacy of patients data. It is also expected to cut down delays and frauds in order to facilitate the validation of NHIS claims.
According to Mr Thomas Mac Scofield, Chief Technology Officer of LWEHS, this project was a culmination of years of planning and working with the MOH to bring eHealth solutions to the public health care industry, and does not require patient fees since it is covered by the government.
A consultant technician with LWEHS, Mr Nrip Nihalani, also said the project follows Ghana’s Data Privacy and HIPAA laws to ensure its safety.
This is a great move by the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service to computerized records to ensure ease of accessibility with eHealth. Experts say that over a five year period a total of GHS 234.6M should be saved on drug inventory alone if there is an efficient management of this system.
Source: Ghana Health Nest
Featured image: www.gizmodo.com.au
What is so special about this? There’s already eHealth systems (e.g. PHIS Software) in Ghana doing exactly this. Do our health ministry / service need to bring in consultants from elsewhere to come and do something that we already have. Or is it just chop chop as usual?
Couldn’t the money given to this foreign company be given to the local companies who are already providing such services to improve themselves and their capacities?
And what is the health ministry going to do about those hospitals who have already computerized their manual patient information systems and have no cause to change?
Have the health ministry thought of unemployment that would come because the companies currently providing this eHealth services to hospitals across the country would no longer be able to?
Finally, has the health ministry thought of the possibility of our health data being given to drug manufacturing companies on our blind side? We have the expertise here in Ghana so let’s use our own.