EHealth Reporter Latin America: In your speech at the opening ceremony of the Fifth Congress on Standardized Medical Information Technology, you emphasized the need for investment by healthcare institutions and the importance of integration with the information technology industry. Why?
Dr. Selene Indarte: Because in the field of Healthcare we are all responsible: both ourselves; the doctors, and the Industry. If we are to progress, the Industry will have to learn that when it comes to Healthcare, technology companies are not just suppliers; they are also partners. The suppliers have to understand that standard products do not work well for Healthcare and that they need to put a lot of work into customizing information technology tools to the real needs of Healthcare. For our part, Healthcare Institutions and providers must learn to forge links with the industry in the sense of regarding it as a partner and not an opponent trying to sell us something we don’t want.
EHRLA: Do you think it will be difficult to bridge the gap?
SI: Yes, but to do so we also need to learn to determine exactly what it is we want. That’s why we need training to better understand our needs, to express them better and to generate an environment in which we can work together with the industry. It is certainly possible and successful examples already exist, which grow even more successful when a commercial relationship is established.
EHRLA: What are the results of this success?
SI: Better products and more workable solutions are created and doctors and nurses are far more committed to using the tools. It is an enormous but necessary cultural change, which is occurring right now throughout our Region.
EHRLA: Montevideo was named as the venue for INFOLAC 2014. What expectations do you have for the event?
SI: We were named as hosts in May during the Latin American Conference on Medical Information Technology organized by IMIA LAC, the Latin American chapter of the International Medical Informatics Association, in Guadalajara, Mexico. It is an enormous responsibility and will involve a lot of work. That’s why we have postponed our sixth congress, due to meet in 2013, to hold it jointly with INFOLAC 2014.
