Informatics in healthcare, especially in the public sector, has never been more important for SA.
Our systems are creaking and it`s taking elbow grease, innovation and technology smarts to get critical initiatives up and running with the limited resources -- time, money, skills and infrastructure -- available. The National Health Informatics Conference, to be held in Kimberly from 6 to 8 October, puts "cost-effective health informatics initiatives for southern Africa" in the spotlight.
"We have to tackle these issues head-on," says Brenda Faye, business intelligence analyst at Medscheme, who will present on the topic of affordability in public and private healthcare industry.
"There is a crossover happening. With changes in legislation, private healthcare companies are making use of public facilities in various partnership arrangements in an attempt to lower costs, but the public sector is not reaping the full benefits. On the most basic level, their billing systems (where they exist) don`t reflect the true costs that the public sector incurs, for example.
"I encourage anyone interested in management information systems in the public and private sector to attend. We need to start working together to find realistic, cost-effective solutions. SA has put in a bid to host the 2010 Medinfo Informatics Congress, the most prestigious conference of its kind in the world. The HISA conference is an important platform for SA to initiate discussion, network with peers and exchange information."
Lyn Hanmer of the Medical Research Council points to the challenges in public healthcare. "Discussions around a national health information system for SA have been ongoing for 10 years and we still haven`t sorted out the underlying issues -- data quality and data flow. It`s not glamorous but the profile of information management (IM) in the healthcare arena needs to be raised. The national antiretroviral (ARV) roll-out to combat SA`s HIV/AIDS pandemic makes IM even more vital; the programme is impossible to manage or run effectively without it. The same can be said for other chronic diseases like TB and Malaria. This is about making a difference to the health of SA`s population."
On the ARV front, Dr David Green of On Cue will present the results of a pilot study using innovative new technology: a wired pillbox. "The pillbox device monitors the taking of the drugs and wirelessly reports to appropriate care givers so that patients can be timeously assisted where the medication requirements are not being followed," he explains. Wireless coverage for the devices includes 96% of the population in SA.
"Anyone with an interest in the health industry should attend," he notes. "Health informatics provides efficiencies where resources are limited, and its moving fast. Don`t get left behind."
Conference details
The Health Informatics Southern Africa (HISA) 2004 conference will be held in Kimberley in the Northern Cape from 6 to 8 October 2004. It is being hosted by the Northern Cape Department of Health (DoH), in conjunction with the South Africa Health Informatics Association (SAHIA), the Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA). It is supported by the SA DoH and the South African Medical Research Council.
Attending will be representatives of WHO, the MEC for Health in the Northern Cape, KD Molusi, the Northern Cape Premier, Dipuo Peters, and an estimated 250 conference delegates who will be joined by as many as 50 senior government officials and guests, including provincial cabinet ministers and heads of departments.
Delegates are expected from across sub-Saharan Africa and will represent the social cluster of health, education and social development, combined with prominent personalities from information technology, information management, communications and technology from both the public and private sectors.
Delegate fees are R2 100.
For more information on the conference, contact the conference secretariat Tish Naicker on (053) 830 0617 or e-mail mail@hisa.co.za. Bookings are accepted online at www.emessagex.com/hisa/rsvp/. Further general information about the conference is available online at www.emessagex.com/hisa/
Primary Partners in South African Health Informatics:
* South African Department of Health (www.doh.gov.za)
* South African Health Informatics Association (www.sahia.org.za)
* Computer Society of South Africa (www.cssa.org.za)
* South African Medical Research Council (www.mrc.ac.za)
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