East La Penitence Health Centre – Guyana’s first paperless health facility
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, December 6, 2018
The East La Penitence Health Centre is being used as the pilot to roll out Guyana’s first paperless Health Facility. This is being facilitated through a cooperative initiative between the Ministry of Public Health and the Pan American Health Organisation’s Guyana country office to establish a Government Health Information System (GHIS).
Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence during the 2019 budget debates said the GHIS “features a single Electronic Medical Record platform, that will capture patients’ pertinent information such as their demographics, medical history, clinical treatment data upon entry, transfer from or within a facility, thus eliminating the need for paper-based documentation.”
The Minister also indicated that there is a Pharmacy/Inventory Module included in the GHIS. “A Pharmacy/Inventory module is an integral component of the GHIS, directly linked to the Essential Drug/Medicine List and will be rolled out soon. This will aid doctors in the prescription of drugs, and ensure accountability.”
The Health Minister also indicated that 80 percent of the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital is already paperless and, on its way, to becoming the second paperless health facility in the country.
The development and rolling out of the GHIS project is an endeavour undertaken by the Ministry with the intention of creating and building a complete database of diseases and patient information to cater for every Guyanese, of every age.
Delicia Haynes.
Images: Jameel Mohamed.