- Two health centres have also gone live
KINGSTON, Jamaica. Wednesday, May 15, 2024: The Spanish Town Hospital in St. Catherine has become the second public hospital to implement Electronic Health Records (EHR), following the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon earlier this year.
“That happened on Monday, following months of preparatory work – including upgrades to the information, communication and technology (ICT) infrastructure and the training of staff,” Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton said during a ceremony to mark the official opening of the newly constructed, covered waiting area at the hospital earlier today.
“Now as we usher in the EHR here, we mark another milestone on the road to delivering equitable, comprehensive and quality health care for the people of St. Catherine, for the people of Jamaica; and step up efforts to make reliable and modern infrastructure available for health service delivery,” he added.
The EHR turns on the philosophy of ‘one patient, one record’ and boasts features, including:
- a patient-registration system for appointment setting and assignment of patients in the triage process of a facility.
- seamless interface of critical diagnostic imaging that will enable doctors to see X Rays and CT Scans on computers and tablets that have already been provided within these facilities; and
- the upload and sharing of Health Records or “Dockets” within the public health system, enabling health professionals to trace patient histories and to see the interventions made. This will result in more efficient diagnosis and treatment.
“This linking of health records means that cross matching and information sharing between health centres and hospitals will now be possible,” the Minister noted.
Also anticipated, as another benefit of the EHR, are shorter wait times for patients; less cost in providing services; increased productivity; reduced staff frustration; and all-round increased service satisfaction levels.
Meanwhile, the May Pen West Health Centre and the Mocho Health Centre, both in Clarendon, have also gone live with the EHR.
“We welcome these improvements, which augur well for safeguarding the best possible health outcomes for the people of Jamaica,” Dr. Tufton said.
The EHR is being implemented as part of the Health Systems Strengthening Programme that is delivering on not only information communication and technology infrastructure, but also the renewal of the physical infrastructure of health facilities islandwide.
The programme is now being implemented in 13 facilities, among them three hospitals (Spanish Town, St Ann’s Bay and May Pen) and 10 health centres islandwide. It is funded by the Government of Jamaica to the tune of some US$87 million, together with financing from the Inter-American Development Bank in the sum of US$50 million and the European Union in the sum of US$10 million.