• The core of the inadequate healthcare management system (HMS / HIS) is expected to be an EHR, and has cost the South African public sector millions of rand.
• Previous investments in health ICTs in South Africa have failed to meet key requirements.
• The advent of innovative and affordable technology has made integrated healthcare management a near-reality and paved the way for the digitalization of healthcare, one of the main drivers of the healthcare business model. by Gijima.
• Gijima has remained in the lead in making such interoperable technology available to the public and private sectors and, through its 20-year partnership with SAP, has delivered the best-in-class EHR in the local market with efforts to constant localization to ensure that Gijima supports its government e-health strategies that align with the National Health Insurance Bill (NHI).
• With more than 400 public hospitals, South Africa needs fully integrated solutions.

The legacy of paper patient records in health care management in South Africa, especially in the public sector, is constantly proving cumbersome and unreliable. In a review of the APP (annual performance plan) of one of the provinces, it appears that a large part of the budget had to be allocated to human resources managing volumes of electronic health records in paper silos with minimal integration. data at the national level. The problem, however, is not just the use of paper as a case management system, but the question of how an inadequate patient management system has cost the South African public sector millions of rand, largely because of the accompanying human error window. and the lack of controls, checks and balances offered by information management systems.

The government’s e-health strategy noted: “Although large sums of money have been used to purchase health ICTs and SISs in South Africa in the past, ICTs and SISs within the country. system does not meet the requirements to support the business processes of the health ecosystem, thus rendering the health system unable to adequately produce data and information for the management and for the monitoring and evaluation of performance of the national health system.

“The decision to invest in an integrated healthcare management system is not an easy one, worse in the public sector,” says Shubna Harilal, Managing Director of Gijima Technology Solutions, the award-winning division of the local ICT giant. , Gijima, for its healthcare solution in the private and public sector.

“The reality is that when it comes to the crisis, policymakers will rather look at more services, more beds, more equipment rather than looking at the holistic management system and its benefits. Given the current state of eHealth in South Africa, a more collaborative and integrated approach to technology adoption is essential where TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) can be contained by adopting this business approach instead. than silo-based strategies currently demonstrated in public. efforts to digitize the sector.

Times have changed, however. The world is moving towards integrated health care management. Hiralal adds: “A study of various countries revealed that Denmark has a history of eHealth strategies dating back to 1996, when the first strategy was launched. The same study also found that Denmark has a centralized computer database to which 98% of primary care doctors, all hospital doctors and all pharmacists now have access.

The Danish study has now brought the topic of effective management of integrated healthcare in the public sector to the fore with its ability to help and support the management of the COVID-19 epidemic.

“In order to be able to achieve the efficiency seen in Denmark, you will need to make a courageous decision and invest in commercial over-the-counter systems that are feature-rich and feature-rich and do not require beta testing or proof of concept. approaches, but already recognized as the best in its class and suitable for its purpose. In particular, you will need to partner with a vendor who has extensive experience and can build a good network of partners to help you with your strategy, ”says Hiralal, who is one of the top female IT executives with multiple awards. implementation of solution projects. under his belt.

For example, as a SAP partner in healthcare for over 20 years, Gijima brings proven successes in the adoption of integrated healthcare management systems and has has demonstrated its ability to integrate patient health data, which improves the quality of care, safety and patient outcomes.

Solving some of the problems currently encountered in the public sector health care space requires a paradigm shift. It is no longer a question of bringing in an ICT provider to fill the gaps the hospital needs today, but of a provider who knows what the healthcare sector needs in terms of an e-health strategy. and who has experience delivering a solution with a long-term vision. Doing the first will waste the budget and further delay the achievement of the mandate of the government’s e-health strategy and the National Development Plan (PND) 2030, no more than 400 public hospitals that need to be connected.

As part of the series, the next press release will focus on Gijima’s ability to help customers focus on the technicality and benefits of using SAP Healthcare solutions for healthcare management in the public sector.