It’s interesting how so many ideas about improving the health sector in Uganda have been documented and visualized, ignoring the fact that it starts from the health providers’ being able to work on their efficiency and effectiveness. If we don’t address this first, then the health industry will never improve.
This involves proper documentation of patient records, proper data storage, proper feedback mechanisms, and this creates a proper information flow.
Most of the current processes are laborious and often manual. They are associated with inefficiencies, longer turnaround time, loss of revenue due to inaccurate compilations, inability to archive data for future use, and resources not appropriately put to use.
Health information systems, once put into place, can assist areas of operation in the health sector. Which I believe if well-developed, will impact information sharing in the health industry.
I am an IT systems fellow at Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC), a non-profit organization founded in 1991 to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Uganda. JCRC is one of the largest antiretroviral therapy (ART) centers in Uganda. Currently, JCRC has the most advanced reference laboratory for other HIV/AIDS partners in the country, with capacity to do sophisticated tests required for ART monitoring and detection of resistance to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.
To embark on its current success JCRC has embarked on upgrading of its health systems hence boosting its capacity to handle as many clients as possible.
It’s realized that the benefits of these health systems assist in keeping track of clinic productivity and patient adherence with visits. This will assist in developing an overview of patient population and an understanding of the finances of its practices.
These systems provide data regarding quality measures, because services such as vaccinations and procedures performed within the practice can be tracked easily. Clinicians and doctors are also able to enter their notes into the system and to be able to document procedures and interventions performed in the office.
Prescriptions may be written within the system and sent to pharmacies electronically, tests may be ordered, and test results may be received electronically for clinician review and action. Paper documents often can be scanned into the system so that hard copies of outside reports can be included in the patient medical record.
It’s noted that health personnel performance measures and Quality Improvement is recognized with the use of these health systems due to the fact that these assist also assist in dealing with strategies to improve care administration and reduce variation in delivery of care and services.
