In the next 18 t0 24 months, the City of Joburg aims to have all patient records at clinics and hospitals completely digitised and hosted on a streamlined system to improve service delivery and eliminate the lengthy form-filling and storage process that currently exists.

This was revealed at the inaugural two-day eHealth Conference held at the Wits School of Public Health last Thursday and Friday.

The city partnered with mining corporation, Anglo-American and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to launch an eHealth system pilot project last year at the Slovoville and Green Village clinics in Soweto, with positive feedback about the speeding up of service reported by patients and healthcare professionals at both clinics.

A cumulative amount of R300 million has been set aside for the system which will see all clinics and hospitals around the metro having their records digitise and preserved.

This will ensure that no matter which hospital or clinic a patient goes to, health care workers will be able to access their records via the system, making it easier to improve turnaround times, services, record keeping and overall patient experience.

“The department is also strengthening the numbers of personnel responsible for maintaining health technology by an additional 50 trainee technicians to complement and assist the current 24 technicians,” said Gauteng Department of Health director, Dr Ernest Kenoshi.

“By creating a synergy between public and private sectors we can find solutions to healthcare challenges. We will look at solutions and outcomes and see how these can be taken forward and implemented,” said City of Joburg executive mayor, Parks Tau.

[Source – City of Joburg, image – CC 2.0 by GotCredit]