INNOVATIONS IN HIS AND EA

With the current global technological advancements, electronic HIS are essential components of health data processing, sharing and use. In recent years, Ethiopia has seen proliferation of eHealth applications developed and introduced by different stakeholders to support the information needs for health service delivery at different levels. Thus far, various desktop, web, and mobile applications have been developed and implemented by the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), other government agencies, implementing partners, universities, and private health care providers. The applications range from patient/client registry to data aggregation and analysis platforms. The applications often vary in their purpose, users, implementation approach, data flow, the technology they use, and their platform. Since most of the eHealth applications were not registered officially with the FMOH, it has been difficult to have a precise idea on the number of apps, the number and type of users, areas of implementation and effectiveness. Moreover, it has been difficult to propose interoperability standards for the planned eHealth Architecture (eHA). This session will present the sought-after solution in response to the challenges existed. Particularly the findings of apps inventory of the currently available eHealth applications as well as the development, implementation, and eventually support mechanisms for these applications will be presented. Detailed evaluation of the apps in light of the implementation sites, data sharing features, financing/sustainability mechanisms, licensing, technologies (platforms, hosting strategies, standards, data exchange mechanisms – APIs, and others) will be presented to the audience. The plan for alignment of the apps towards the Information Revolution priority interventions will also be clarified – and the potential areas of expansion for the assessment will be indicated. The lessons from the subsequent step, publication of the apps inventory results in the WHO Digital Health Atlas (WHO-DHA), and its implications to the envisaged eHA will also be shared.

This session will introduce the attendees to the innovative low-resource design of the cloud-based, mobile, and universally accessible Electronic Health Record for refugees: Sijilli. The health information of Sijilli is originally collected on a data entry-friendly software. The health data includes the refugee’s medical conditions, allergies, history of surgeries, medication use, as well as PHQ-9 depression screening results. Once data collection is completed, a password-protected health record file is generated on a flash drive, with the password being generated exclusively and blindly to the Sijilli holder. An encrypted de-identified version of the generated health record is in parallel uploaded to the Sijilli cloud-based server. The flash drive, handed in to the refugee, contains a password-protected pdf version of the health record that can be used in any health facility worldwide. The cloud-based version of the health record of any Sijilli holder can be accessed globally by either patients or the health providers through the Sijilli website following a two-step identity verification process. The session will offer the attendees insights into opportunities and challenges of designing such cloud-based solutions for vulnerable populations as refugees. It will also shed light on the importance of developing a deep understanding of the context and the target population's needs for enhanced contextualization and alignment of the presented solution. Applicability in low-resource settings, conflict areas, and refugee-hosting countries will be underlined. Special emphasis will be placed on key aspects of digital health solutions including data security, governance, and interoperability. The session will also highlight the exemplary partnership employed between the academic, private, and non-governmental sectors, reflecting a collaborative model of partnerships for health. The session will be concluded with the alignment of the presented digital health solution with different sustainable development goals.