Information and
Communication Technology
Note Re: Information and Communication Technology [ICT]
- Currently, S4P ICT application is focused on e-Health and is managed by a separate division.
- Principles, architecture and functional module development methodologies used in the healthcare sector are transferable for application in other sectors.
- S4P can provide 360 ICT service to healthcare institutions, network of institutions and jurisdiction-wide systems (municipal, provincial, and federal)
Guiding Principles
- ICT approach is guided by 11 basic principles:
- Patient-centric – Systems and protocols designed around the well-being of patients.
- E³ – ICT is to be:
- Effective – Achieves the intended healthcare goal(s) of the patient
- Efficient – Eliminates redundancies and multi-tiered documentations, saves time for healthcare providers and increased capacity.
- Empowering – Both healthcare users and providers are empowered by accurate, timely and relevant information for better decision-making.
- Patient Safety – Quality in care and capture quantitatively for CIP and risk mitigation.
- Optimizing IT systems for:
- Improving patient management – Reduction in diagnostic and treatment errors.
- Improving physician –to-patient time ratio
- Automation – Data mining, required trend analysis, report generation, and metric for performance assessments.
- Healthcare network communication – vertical and horizontal information sharing for public health crisis management, and others.
- Rural and remote communities access to healthcare – Telemedicine, ‘Health Booths’ linked to hospital and physicians and timelines
- Establishing and maintaining contact without visiting healthcare providers in person – Leveraging portals and communication technology
- Empowering patients by providing efficient and cost effective access to their own medical records.
- Holistic Approach to ICT architecture – A tripartite relationship between patients, doctors/nurses, and technology.
- ICT architectures in providers such as
- General practitioner – family physician
- Specialists
- Nurses
- Triage nurses
- Healthcare technologist – imaging, other static/dynamic images
- Support staff
- Administration
- Hospitals
- Community clinics and specialized clinical centers
- Labs – publish health, hospital based and public health
- ICT/ e-Health systems to fully integrate all of the functionaries listed above.
- Over-the-Horizon approach – Planning for the future.
- Patient privacy and confidentiality – Authorized levels of access and access log reports.
- Comprehensive Electronic Health Records {HER} – Up-dated, user friendly fully integrated into institutions’ processes and protocols.
- Scalability – ICT system to be fully scalable and dynamic as operating/ demand environment changes
Key Design Capabilities and Features
- Facilitates ERP in assessment, design, development, implementation and surveillance of ICT
- Needs assessment
- Architecture design
- Factors in stakeholder expectations from the system
- ICT can be customized for
- Acute care
- Community hospitals
- Large complex healthcare facilities
- Rehab hospitals
- Mental health possibilities
- Chronic disease management and disease – Specific registries
- Compliance with standard – Provincial, federal, and international where deemed necessary
- Risk management
- End-to-End scheduling of all direct healthcare providers, support staff and administration
- Compliance with regulations – Industry, provincial, and federal
- Provide function – Specific and on-going training
- Data resource governance and management systems
- Date Quality – Cleaning and integrating
Competitive Advantages
- Customized to technical and operational specifications
- Cost competitive
- On-site service (Staff in urban centers who can also service remote sites)
- Comprehensive and on-going training
- Leading-edge technology and on-going innovations
- End-to-End (360) service
- Use of local resources