Durban - The Integrated Health Information System, a national health department initiative to fasttrack service delivery at public healthcare facilities, could reduce the number of medico-legal claims against the KwaZulu-Natal department.
The system, which is still in the pilot stages and is spearheaded by the national health department, will enable hospital employees to access patients’ files at the click of a button.
Addressing a health portfolio committee meeting at Truro House, Durban, recently, provincial health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said the manual hospital record keeping was opening the department up for lawsuits.
“The amalgamation of the communication centres in the department is critical, and will save the department a lot of money. When a person claims medical negligence, the department sometimes ends up settling without arguing the claim because a patient’s folder could not be located in the hospital.
“With this system in place, every patient’s information will be stored in the system, as opposed to manual filing,” said Dhlomo, without giving further details.
During the 2012/13 financial year, the provincial department faced medical negligence claims totalling more than R900 million.
National department spokesman, Joe Maila, said the initiative was piloted in various health districts with the aim of promoting innovation in information management.
These districts were those where the National Health Insurance (NHI) was being piloted.
“It has been implemented in a phased approach in all NHI districts, and is in various stages in its maturity, from the initial footprint establishment to preparations for district-wide scale up. It will enable us to achieve a unified health information system,” Maila said.
“This programme is uniquely tailored to the South African environment, and we are already seeing efficiency gains as well as a reduction of waiting times, resulting in the improvement of the client experience of care. Staff members at the pilot facilities are reporting that the efficiency gains allow them more time to manage patients rather than administration,” he said.
More than 600 public healthcare facilities in the NHI pilot districts are on the program-me.
Over the 2015/16 financial year, an additional 1 400 facilities in an additional 21 districts will be brought under the programme.
Maila said the first phase of the patient-based hospital information system assessment would also begin this financial year.
“It must be noted that there will always be paper-based records for patients. This, however, will be standardised throughout the health system and will be supported by electronic health records,” he said.
DA spokesman on the provincial health department, Imran Keeka, said the issue of litigation against the department did not originate with the information system.
He said poor working conditions and lack of adequate training for doctors and nurses was the cause of the problem.
“Add to these conditions the shortage of doctors and nurses and you will have collapsed healthcare facilities,” Keeka said.
Daily News