A fully digitised health records platform will be rolled out at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon in January 2024, making the public health facility the first in the island to benefit from the electronic health records (EHR) system.

Government is spending some US$5 million to digitise several hospitals and clinics throughout the country.

“This will be the first hospital in Jamaica to get their digital platform and it’s a big deal from a number of perspectives, including customer service, which we all need to appreciate and embrace,” said Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton.

“It involves new tablets and iPads; it means knowledge transfer and new levels of training but it’s exciting,” he added.

The EHR provides an electronic version of a patient’s medical history, including demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunisations, laboratory data and radiology reports.

It provides a seamless interface for critical diagnostic imaging that will enable health care professionals to see x-rays and computed tomography (CT) scans on computers and tablets provided within the facilities.

Implementation of the EHR, which features a patient-registration process for appointment setting and assignment of patients in the triage process, is expected to result in increased service satisfaction levels, reduced cost in providing services and increased productivity.

Dr. Tufton, who was addressing the launch of the Compassionate Care Programme at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester on Thursday (December 14), said that, importantly, the process will result in reduced wait-time for patients and customers of hospitals and health centres.

“They will be attended to quicker. It will offer digtised records, which means information now moving to any department of a hospital [and eventually health centres] at the touch of a button,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Mandeville Regional Hospital benefited from renovations to improve the comfort of patients and staff under the Compassionate Care Programme.

The works, sponsored by the National Health Fund (NHF) at a cost of $10 million, include upgrading of the waiting area in the opthalmology department with improved seating, upgraded flooring, installation of drinking water fountains and a television monitor for patients to watch health-related videos, bathroom renovations, and the mounting of the Charter of Customers’ Rights on the walls.

The Compassionate Care Programme, which also entails customer service training for staff, aims to improve how service is delivered at the island’s public health facilities.

Minister Tufton said that the initiative is important in enhancing healthcare services by fostering a patient-centred approach to care.

He noted that even with the resources being spent to procure equipment, carry out infrastructure upgrading, hire more doctors and nurses, and increase salaries, the empathetic service provided by frontline healthcare staff is key to ensuring the well-being of patients.

The minister said that public health is now going through the greatest transformation for the better in terms of equipment, expenditure, increased personnel, digitisation in technology, among other things, “and it’s up to us to make it work”.

Michael Bent, regional director at the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), in his remarks, stressed the importance of compassion in the delivery of healthcare to patients.

“Most of the complaints we get are not necessarily about technical and clinical issues but about our attitude towards our clients. We are a service-oriented organisation and people come for service, so it is incumbent on all team members that we consider our clients,” he said.