Regional Experts Plan Health Information Systems for Better Patient Care

HOI AN, April 4, 2011 - Government officials, ministries, donors, and technical experts from nine Asia-Pacific countries gathered at a U.S.-sponsored workshop to identify challenges and strategies to strengthen health information systems leading to improved quality of patient care.

Hosted by Vietnam's Ministry of Health and chaired by Vice Minister of Health Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, the four-day workshop was co-funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Health Organization.

"This workshop will help health data managers, department managers, and statisticians to develop effective national health information systems, improve decision-making, inform health policy and planning, enhance monitoring of public health, and  better address the continuity of care of individuals," said USAID Director Francis Donovan. 

The nearly 200 participants include statisticians, health data and program managers responsible for information systems, as well as clinic administrators from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Through peer-to-peer dialogue, participants reviewed country case studies on topics such as electronic medical records, data exchange standards, development of use cases, and unique patient identifiers. 

Organizers also set up a collaborative online forum for health experts and participants to use during and after the workshop in order to build a sustainable national health information systems network within the Asia-Pacific region for the future.

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