South African Primary Healthcare Information System Takes Top Prize at IT @ Networking 2012

Ian de Vega from the Medical Research Council in South Africa fought off fierce competition to take home the coveted IT @ 2012 Trophy and 2,500 euro cash prize at the IT @ Networking Awards 2012 The winning solution, “Successful Development and Implementation of a Primary Healthcare Information System” is a primary healthcare information system (PHCIS) that is being implemented at all primary healthcare facilities in the Western Cape province. Since the start of the project in 2006, PHCIS has been implemented at 103 facilities and has created electronic records for 3.75 million patients. PHCIS processes 130,000 patient visits a month and tracks 5.6 million folders. The Implementation of this system has transformed the way work is done in primary healthcare facilities in the province: Empowering users, assisting managers and giving dignity to patients. The European Association of Healthcare IT Managers and the European Association of Hospital Managers (EAHM) partnered to organise this two-day competition recognising innovators in healthcare IT and medical technology at the General Secretariat of the EAHM in Clinique St. Jean, Brussels, Belgium. A great learning opportunity, this original event promoted open discussion between competitors from across Europe and beyond. Presenters shared not only their successes but also the obstacles they encountered along the way. Second place was awarded to “Individualised Patient Disease Diagnosis and Treatment through Whole Genome Sequencing and Comparison” (presented by Peter van der Spek) Third place went to “eyeSmart EMR - Intelligent IT Solution for Eyecare” (presented by Anthony Vipin Das) In the first round of competition, 15 nominees introduced their projects in brief MindByte presentations to the audience, who electronically voted for the top eight finalists. The finalists were announced later at the evening reception in Clinique St. Jean. The second day saw the top eight projects from day one go head-to-head in the WorkBench sessions. Finalists were each given 25 minutes to present and discuss their healthcare IT and medical technology solutions. After each presentation the expert panel of judges and the audience had the chance to ask questions before casting their votes. The final results were announced during the Evening Reception in the Belle Etage, rue d’Alexiens, Brussels. The eight finalists received their IT @ 2012 finalist trophies and each Nominee took home a certificate in recognition of their achievements. In addition to the IT @ Networking Awards 2012 trophy and cash prize, the winning IT @ 2012 project will be featured in a number of Europe’s leading healthcare management publications.