Paper bureaucracy in the public and private healthcare system will be discarded with the implementation of an electronic health record program that will be integrated as part of an inter-institutional agreement known as “Salud.uy” (Health.uy).
The aim is to provide a digital medium for all patient care records to improve how this information is managed and to generate greater efficiency in the health system.
With this step, the file containing important information about the medical treatment and illness of the patient will be able available to multiple specialists without delays or transfers. It will also provide more security for the user in handling their electronic health record, as it avoids paper transfers or losses, among other aspects.
The program will be launched in two weeks by the government, reports the El Observador newspaper, citing the Executive Director of the Agency for Electronic Government and the Information Society (Agesic), José Clastornik. Over the days prior to the launch, there will be coordination meetings between the technicians who took part in the initiative, with the objective of defining how many users will start to use the new tool.
At first, only the health records of a group of public system users to be determined by the Administration of State Healthcare Services (ASSE) will be computerized. In addition to Agesic, the Ministries of Public Health, Economy and Finance and the Presidency are involved.
“Basically, the overall goal is to provide equality and quality of service. Helping people to share the information on their health records so that certain data, such as an x-ray taken in the interior, can be seen by experts who generally live in the center of the capital,” explained Clastornik.
The President of the National Integrated Healthcare System (SNIS) Elena Clavell explained that firstly the project is working on integrating the basic information of all the population treated at public and private institutions. i.e.: name, ID number, vaccination record, whether they suffer from a disease and all their medication information, as well as the health card of their children. The implementation will allow all institutions to exchange information if necessary, which will benefit patients who need to be treated at different emergency rooms or polyclinics across the country.
Furthermore, the amount of information to be computerized will be analyzed as several healthcare centers started this process two years ago. Some implemented it in pharmacy, laboratory, emergency and polyclinic departments. Now the data entry codes will be unified so that they are compatible with the systems to be used in all the centers.
Clavell stated that there are still no figures on how much information has already been computerized nor how much will be invested but said that the system must include “the over three million Uruguayans”.
Later, progress will be made with the development of medication codes for electronic prescriptions which will “allow greater control of the supply (of pharmaceuticals)”. It will also be possible to monitor when doctors order clinical tests.
“The user will have a guarantee that their information will be available wherever they need. This is very important, especially for those who move around the country, as well as for isolated communities in the interior,” she explained. It will also be important for traffic accidents or people who are found in the street without any more information than their name or I.D. Card. Doctors will be able to access their health record and treat the patient with reduced possibility of error.
In the short term, Clavell believed that the system will make great advances possible in the next two years.
In October 2012, when the agreement was announced, Clastornik said that it was a “dream” to be able to talk seriously about an electronic health record project.
She believes that the electronic health record will give users more confidence. This will be enhanced by the fact that an advanced electronic signature system is also being developed. This system will protect the security of information of every State body; and privacy and protection of data will also be safeguarded by law. Another factor in the project’s favor is the advance of low cost technologies and better broadband access. The Undersecretary of the Presidency, Diego Cánepa, said that the system is a “major advance” that will improve the presently parlous state of the “protocol culture” in healthcare.
Cánepa added that the project will improve the quality of care and also support doctors and patients during malpractice proceedings and will shorten patients’ waiting times for consults or specific treatment. Although the system will start to be implemented by the ASSE, it will then be extended to the mutual system.
Source: El Observador
