The City of Johannesburg is rolling out e-Health at all local government clinics in a phased approach and is calling on residents who use the Halfway House Clinic in Midrand to come and register for the new electronic filing system.
In a bid to drastically reduce patient waiting times, the City of Johannesburg has introduced an electronic health record called e-Health@Joburg across all its 81 public healthcare facilities. At the core of e-Health@Joburg is an electronic health record containing historic and current patient demographic details and clinical information. In addition, the record also contains treatment plans for all clinical conditions customised to individual patients. Furthermore, the system will be sending SMSs and e-mails to remind patients of their appointments.
In a statement, Regional Health Deputy Director for Region A, Nelly Shongwe said, “This is the first phase of the roll-out process for the clinic.This means that clients have to be registered on the system by using a biometric finger print.”
Shongwe added that in view of the difficulty in registering patients while clinic services are in progress, mass patient registration will be conducted on Saturday 23 July 2016 from 8am till 3pm.
Patients are urged to bring their identity documents, birth certificates or any form of identify to register on the e-Health System.
The City said advantages of the e-Health System include:
- Doctors and other medical staff will have complete access to patients’ medical history, treatments and lists of medicines that have been prescribed in the past.
- Strict security measures and electronic firewalls will prevent unauthorised access and ensure patient confidentiality.
- The records at the clinics will be linked to a central database, which will enable patients to visit any facility at a time convenient to them. In future the system will be linked with provincial hospitals.
- Patients who require follow-up visits and further treatment will receive an SMS as a reminder when their appointments are due and also to take their chronic medication
- Medical staff, including nurses, will be able to monitor patients and follow up the health status of people who missed their appointments or did not collect their chronic medication.
- Medical practitioners, including the administrators at the clinics, are being trained in basic computer skills to enter health details and manage the records.
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