Over the course of the past half century, digital technology is impacting the lives of the global community in various forms. It has transformed the lives of people for the better. Aside from changing how people interact with one another, it has enabled them to have increased access to information from any part of the nation or around the globe in a fraction of seconds; allows them to get improved quality services and get products so easily, to run businesses and gain many more similar benefits.
Thanks to the advancements of digital technology, these days, various institutions are digitizing their services to diminish the bureaucratic way of their activities; and smooth customers’ service delivery and consumers are utilizing numerous platforms to receive swift, quality services. And, this kind of service provision seems possible only in the advent of digital technology.
Services in the public and private institutions are becoming a click away; the cell phone devices in the hands of individuals are serving as a significant instrument facilitating increased access and expediting digital services.
It is now thinking life and business without using digital technology is becoming impossible. The technology has brought a significant role in ensuring and enhancing businesses competitiveness, making businesses more efficient and profitable.
Ethiopia has also been undertaking a range of activities in a bid to benefit from the advancement of digital technologies and improve efficiency thereby accelerating economic growth through enhancing the use of digital technologies in every sector.
The health sector is one of the major institutes that are engaged in digitizing their services with a target to build reliable data transfer and health outcomes through improved computer assisted approach.
Oromia State Health Bureau Plan and Budget Directorate Director Lemmesa Taddese in an exclusive interview with The Ethiopia Herald said that providing digital health service and medical technology are becoming two sides of the same coin. The State’s Health Bureau, while realizing digital health services, has faced several challenges and also recorded remarkable outcomes.
The State is investing hugely on availing digital technology infrastructure and producing skilled human power in a bid to create enabling systems for digital technology to flourish and ensure digital service. The Bureau finds providing digital health service has a significant role in improving data and service quality in the hinterlands and in urban parts of the State.
Responding to the effort made Lemmesa said that the Bureau is working to provide digital service to the community through various platforms. For instance, the Bureau offered a platform named Electronic Community Health Information System at health posts.
This platform is mostly used by the health extension workers at the health post to register customers as per the type of the services they are given. For instance if a pregnant woman is in attendance, the device will alert her when it will be the next vaccination schedule.
The platform is also assisting health extension workers serving as job guides helping in providing quality health services.
At the hospitals and zonal offices, the Bureau offered to utilize a digital health information system named District Information System-2. The portal is used to report performance to federal health and generate data that could help in passing decisions.
As of now, over three thousand four hundred health posts have started practicing the service and all woredas located in Oromia State are connected through the web and they are exchanging data.
According to him, though the Bureau has made considerable steps towards applying digital health services, improving and upgrading accessibility to the next step is the plan that the Bureau will embark on in time to come.
Availing digital services to the community at the grass-roots level has a significant role in increasing the satisfaction of customers. In this regard, the Bureau is working round the clock because its effect transcends to other sectors impacting and fostering social development, paving ways to realizing productivity in addition to having the comprehensive data of clients that could be accessed easily.
A new project is underway at Adama Hospital that promotes paperless work starting from the admission of the patient to the point they checkout. The project is moving in the right direction and stakeholders are supporting it.
According to him, private health facilities are implementing digital service platforms. In Oromia State, there are about seven thousand private health facilities operating like primary and medium clinics. A number of private hospitals, special clinics as well as pharmacies are providing services to the community.
The Bureau has been encouraging the private health sector to join health digital service because it is vital in building comprehensive health data of the societies that can be accessed at any time.
Most of the private health facilities are exercising District Information System-2 which allows decoding information to the right institution. “We believe that digitizing the health service is creating opportunities to offer reliable and efficient services that could meet the satisfactions of customers. Moreover, it lets us provide service in a more time saving and comfortable fashion,” he added.
He finally said that providing paperless service at health facilities is becoming a new normal though there are a number of gaps that need the attention of pertinent stakeholders.
While talking about the challenge the Bureau encountered regarding effectively realizing digital technology in health institutions, mainly in remote areas, the Director said that the power outrage and poor connectivity and absence of adequate telecom infrastructure in some areas are the major challenges that they face to provide digital health service successfully.
To ensure productive digital health services and make the set goal a success, the Bureau is working along with pertinent stakeholders like Ethio-Telecom, The Information Network Security Administration (INSA). He also called on stakeholders to strengthen efforts and act unwaveringly to expand the services.
BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 16 MARCH 2024
