KINGSTON, Jamaica. Tuesday, July 23, 2024: The Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr.
the Hon. Christopher Tufton, MP, earlier today endorsed the hosting of the Caribbean
Connect event, which sees countries from across the region meeting to deliberate on
the digitisation of their health systems. “I extend my sincere appreciation to the Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organisation and the Inter-American Development Bank for co-hosting this event, for their dedicated efforts for the Member States of the Caribbean subregion, and particularly Jamaica,” said the Minister, delivering his keynote address at the opening ceremony for the event, hosted at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.
“Special welcome is extended to the Ministers of Health and health executives from
our neighbouring Caribbean countries visiting us from Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago,” Dr. Tufton added.
The dialogue aims to connect the Caribbean region to the Pan-American Highway for
Digital Health project, an initiative of the IDB, PAHO, and the countries of the region,
set to be officially launched in October with support from the Government of Japan.
It is intended to help to realise the Caribbean’s vision for digital health by 2030 and to
foster solidarity and cooperation, as countries share experiences, challenges, and
solutions, while paving the way for collaborative projects and initiatives whose impact
extend beyond isolated national efforts.
“We acknowledge the critical role of digital solutions in building health system
resilience and to leverage technology and use existing Commonwealth digital
initiatives to develop and improve low-cost and effective digital health systems while
also strengthening legal frameworks for data sharing,” the Minister noted.
Over recent years, Jamaica has progressed efforts to digitise its own health system
through the Health System Strengthening Programme, which is financed through the
Government of Jamaica together with partners, the IDB and the European Union.
That programme has so far yielded, among other things, the installation of State-of-
the-Art information, communication and technology infrastructure as well as the
implementation of electronic health records, dubbed e-Care, including at the My Pen
Hospital in Clarendon.
The EHR turns on the philosophy of ‘one patient, one record’ and sees the transition
to a paperless system for patient records and the upload and sharing of these records
among healthcare providers for the seamless and collaborative delivery of care.
It has functionalities in patient registration, outpatient scheduling, inpatient and
outpatient clinical documentation, patient flow and care planning, among other
functionalities. The implementation of the system means shorter wait times for
patients; less cost in providing services; increased productivity; reduced staff
frustration; and increased service satisfaction levels.
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