Tanzanian Health Institutions Plan Implementation of Digital Health System

At meetings, which took place in Mwanza, Arusha and Dar es Salaam, managers of health institutions and representatives of Tanzanian health organisations discussed how to make sure that a digital health system is introduced in the most effective way.

Gradual introduction of software modules

A package approach was planned, which means that several software modules are gradually introduced. These modules a

•   A health management information system  - used to digitally register patients and store patient history, bill patients and to give information about medicaton in stock. It can also be linked to a financial information system to create account balance sheets. For this, a Tanzanian based software package named AfyaPro is used, together with the open source administration software WebERP
•   A distance diagnosis platform -  doctors and other health workers in remote areas can send photos and descriptions of patients to specialists in major cities to more accurately diagnose diseases without requiring patients to travel far.
• An e-learning platform - allows hospitals and health training facilities to train their staff more effectively by using computers with up-to-date training materials.
• Digitalise natonal health insurance forms – Which will be implemented in the health management information system so patient files can go directly to insurance.

Together this comprises the ‘eHealth package’ which is already gradually being introduced in Tanzania.

Mobile healthcare

At the meetings, participants also discussed how to use mobile health in the eHealth package. It could for instance help with distance diagnosis, but also alert patients when and where they have a medical appointment.

IICD’s Technical Advisor for Tanzania Maurizio Bricola attended the meetings and is very positive, but also warns that the introduction of all the components in the eHealth package should not be introduced too rapidly. Bricola: “this is a five year process which starts with the facilities having computers, Local Area Networks and internet. People also need to have basic ICT training. Only then can hospitals really think about using one of the modules and gradually introducing more. This requires some organisational changes.”