ICT Infrastructure To Process Public Health Transactions Quickly
By: , May 18, 2022
Photo: Dave Reid
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton (centre), provides details of the data centre being established to link patients’ information from all public health centres and hospitals to one central network. Joining him are (from left) the Ministry’s Information System 4 Health (IS4H), Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Lead, Shawn Bolton; and Director, Government Enterprise and Information Technology Solutions, at Cable and Wireless Communications (C&W), Carol Robertson. The Minister participated in a tour of the e-Gov Jamaica Limited Data Centre and the C&W Warehouse, which stores the equipment to be used for the project, on May 12.The Full Story
Up to one million transactions between public health institutions will soon be processed at a time, through the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure.
The ICT project is currently being networked to all public health centres and hospitals and will provide real-time data for patient treatment. Its implementation is expected to be completed by September 2022.
Details were disclosed by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, following his recent tour of the data centre at e-Gov’s offices on Old Hope Road and the warehouse located at Cable & Wireless, on Carlton Crescent in Kingston.
The Minister said authorised personnel will be able to access all patients’ health information, personal data, and sick profile.
“Data is stored securely in one location with a backup in another with several security features, which prevent persons and entities from logging in or tapping into that database,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tufton said the next phase of the project includes the implementation of relevant software to accommodate functionalities, such as telemedicine.
He disclosed that the Ministry is currently in the process of choosing a contractor to fill that role.
“This means that as soon as the latter part of this year [going] into next year, we will have one of the most modern technology-based health information systems, just as any First-World country anywhere in the world,” he said.
“This is a good thing. It means we have invested millions to improve our healthcare system, and to ensure that patients can be treated in a timely manner,” the Minister noted.
The project costs US$8.4 million and forms part of the Health System Strengthening Programme. It is being financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with support from the European Union.