New hospital digitisation programme
South Africa-based private healthcare provider Netcare has embarked on a hospital digitisation programme that aims to: increase participatory care by the patient; remove fragmentation of services; and lead to improved treatment protocols.
The system will be piloted at Netcare Milpark Hospital from March 2019 whilst rollout to the rest of the Netcare hospitals is scheduled to begin in 2020, with completion scheduled for 2022. CEO Dr Richard Friedland said that the programme will mean that: patients have full access to their medical records, enabling them to stay abreast of their medical condition and diagnosis; simple tests and medical procedures do not have to be repeated, increasing efficiency and reducing costs for the patient; and, through improved treatment protocols, mean that specialists and doctors readily have all the necessary information available to them so that they can correctly diagnose and treat patients.
Dr Friedland highlighted the benefits of the programme: “This new system will essentially create an electronic trail of procedures, diagnosis and treatments for patients,” he said. “There is currently a severe shortage of nursing staff in both the public and private healthcare sectors in South Africa. The digitisation programme will alleviate their admin workload, so they are able to focus on the patients more.”
Netcare is partnering with Apple; a decision made due to the low chance of being hacked. Nurses will be able to access patients’ electronic medical records via iPads. “There will be no breach of confidentiality as ownership of the information rests with the patient and they will have to sign permission for their data to be recorded electronically before being admitted to a hospital,” Friedland said. Having exited operations in the UK at the end of March this year, Netcare intends to continue concentrating on its South African operations.