Health IT and The Bangkok Connetion

This week I am in Bangkok Thailand taking part in the Prince Mahidol Award Conference’s Global Health Information Forum which is dedicated to bringing stakeholders together and providing a platform for a renewed energy and commitment to investing in and building the capacities of health information systems. The conference organizers recognize that accurate information provides a foundation for sound decision-making. Where public health is concerned, the difference between good decisions and poor decisions can mean the difference between life and death. The lack of reliable information on the causes of sickness and death is a major obstacle for any attempt to improve the health of people in developing countries. Health information is essential to track the health needs of populations, to guide the design and implementation of health programs, and to assess what works and what does not. Significant evidence indicates that many national health information systems are poorly equipped to meet current information demands for policy decisions and are ill-prepared to meet future requirements, particularly in the context of emergencies and health crises; Conference participants also realize that increased monitoring and evaluation efforts have the potential to dramatically improve national health information systems if properly coordinated and that equitable distribution of health outcomes is as important as achieving overall health goals; As such we welcome the opportunity presented by new tools, technology and consensus in this area, including endorsement of the Health Metrics Framework by the World Health Assembly in 2007, the Bellagio eHealth Call to Action, the Paris Declaration, the Marrakech Action Plan on Statistics and the collective efforts to measure and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  Obviously, setting up and maintaining a successful Public Health health-information system is a considerable task, requiring a network of partners, working towards a common goal. Several partners including the Health Metrics Network, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Prince Mahidol Award Conference will hold the first Global Conference on Health Information Systems. This conference is in line with the commitment by the G8 meeting in July 2008 on Health Systems Strengthening which focuses on Health Information Systems, Human Resources for Health and Health Care Financing. This commitment had produced a strong impetus to the movement to further strengthen HIS. Four core objectives are proposed:  1. Firmly position HIS as a strategic driver of health systems strengthening and performance management of broader development outcomes. 2. Broaden and unite the constituency of potential allies behind a shared vision and action plan for HIS strengthening.  3. Showcase HIS progress and capacity-building in developing countries.  4. Secure high-level commitment to drive future action.

Tomorrow I will be visiting the Ang Thong Provincial Health Office, (Ang Thong Health Department) located about 100 kilometers from Bangkok. This Health Department has developed a real time mobile information system for its health workers, which is available anywhere and anytime while providing services to clients in the field. Using this system, health department workers can access and update client information even during patient home visits, while all up-to-date data can be immediately analyzed at the Health Department for public health emergencies or other purposes. While we in the US focus almost exclusively on clinical providers, we may have a lot to learn from our Asian counterparts who seem to understand the need for robust connections between hospital systems, providers and a strong public health infrastructure.