scholarly journals Designing for scale: optimising the health information system architecture for mobile maternal health messaging in South Africa (MomConnect)

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (Suppl 2) ◽  
pp. e000563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Seebregts ◽  
Pierre Dane ◽  
Annie Neo Parsons ◽  
Thomas Fogwill ◽  
Debbie Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Health Information ◽  
South African ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Health Information Systems ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
The South ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Technical Platform

MomConnect is a national initiative coordinated by the South African National Department of Health that sends text-based mobile phone messages free of charge to pregnant women who voluntarily register at any public healthcare facility in South Africa. We describe the system design and architecture of the MomConnect technical platform, planned as a nationally scalable and extensible initiative. It uses a health information exchange that can connect any standards-compliant electronic front-end application to any standards-compliant electronic back-end database. The implementation of the MomConnect technical platform, in turn, is a national reference application for electronic interoperability in line with the South African National Health Normative Standards Framework. The use of open content and messaging standards enables the architecture to include any application adhering to the selected standards. Its national implementation at scale demonstrates both the use of this technology and a key objective of global health information systems, which is to achieve implementation scale. The system’s limited clinical information, initially, allowed the architecture to focus on the base standards and profiles for interoperability in a resource-constrained environment with limited connectivity and infrastructural capacity. Maintenance of the system requires mobilisation of national resources. Future work aims to use the standard interfaces to include data from additional applications as well as to extend and interface the framework with other public health information systems in South Africa. The development of this platform has also shown the benefits of interoperability at both an organisational and technical level in South Africa.

scholarly journals Health Information Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (01) ◽  
pp. 79-82
Author(s):  
C. Bréant ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Health Information Exchange ◽  
Health Information Systems ◽  
Health It ◽  
It Impacts

SummarySummarize excellent current research in the field of Health Information Systems.Synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2012.Three papers from international peer reviewed journals have been selected for the section on health information systems.The selected articles illustrate current research regarding health IT impacts and evaluation and the latest developments in health information exchange.

scholarly journals Integrated Financial Management Information Systems: Guidelines for effective implementation by the public sector of South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffel J. Hendriks
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Management Information Systems ◽  
Management Information ◽  
The South

Background: Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) can improve public sector management by providing real-time financial information to managers in order to enhance their decision-making capabilities. The South African Public Service is currently busy with the implementation of an IFMIS. However, the implementation of such a project has proved to be a very demanding undertaking and has not been met with resounding success.Objectives: The research was conducted in order to identify the challenges and risks that are involved in the implementation of the IFMIS in South Africa. After identification of the challenges and risks, solutions or guidelines were developed that may make the implementation more successful.Method: The methodology that was used is that of a literature study where theories were explored and used to solve a research problem. Based on the theoretical research, solutions and guidelines were developed to solve challenges and risks experienced.Results: The results indicated that there are a number of challenges involved with the implementation of an IFMIS. A set of best practice guidelines was developed that may make the implementation more successful.Conclusion: The sheer size and complexity of an IFMIS poses significant challenges and a number of risks to the implementation process. There are, however, critical success factors or best practices that can be used for the project to succeed. It is recommended that these best practices be used by the South African Public Service. 

scholarly journals PROPOSALS REGARDING A WEAPON REVIEW PROCESS IN SOUTH AFRICA (PART 1)

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Charles Moorhouse ◽  
David Abrahams
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
South African ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Review Process ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
The Subject

The purpose of this article is to put forward submissions regarding the implementation of a weapons review process in compliance of South Africa’s obligations under Additional Protocol I (hereinafter “API”) Article 36. Article 36 requires each state party to determine whether the employment of any new weapon, means or method of warfare that it studies, develops, acquires or adopts would, insome or all circumstances, be prohibited by international law. Article 36 does not specify how such a legal review should be implemented or conducted. Thus this article puts forward proposals regarding both the substantive and procedural aspectsof a review of the legality of weapons, means and methods of warfare that the authors submit best befits the South African context.A background regarding the legal limitations placed upon the use of certain weapons, means and methods of warfare and an explanation of South Africa’s obligations regarding national implementation of a weapons review process, is given in paragraph 1 so as to create an understanding as to why it is necessary for the Republic of South Africa to implement a process to review the legality of weapons, means and methods of warfare. Before the implementation of a weapons review process can be discussed, the subject matter of such a review must first be ascertained. Thus paragraph 2 contains a discussion regarding the definition of the term “weapons, means and methods of warfare” and a determination of which weapons shall form the subject matter of legal reviews. No specific manner of implementation is contained within API and thus it is at the discretion of the state in question, in this case South Africa, to adopt the necessary measures to implement this obligation. In this regard, paragraph 3 contains submissions regarding the status of the review body within the state hierarchy and its method of establishment. This paragraph also contains an explanation of the process by which South Africa acquires its weapons. The legal scope of the review process is dealt with in paragraph 4. Within thisparagraph, the place of both treaty-based law and customary international law (“CIL”) in the South African legal system is discussed. Furthermore, the treaty-law and customary international law rules binding upon South Africa regarding limitations of specific weapons and general weapons limitations are enumerated and the paragraph ends with a discussion of the Martens Clause. 

Toward Integrating Healthcare Data and Systems

2016 ◽  
pp. 270-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timoteus B. Ziminski ◽  
Steven A. Demurjian ◽  
Eugene Sanzi ◽  
Thomas Agresta
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
Health Information Exchange ◽  
Health Information Systems ◽  
Medical Providers ◽  
Healthcare Data ◽  
Architectural Styles ◽  
Service Oriented

The adoption of health information systems and the integration of healthcare data and systems into efficient cross-institutional collaboration workflows of stakeholders (e.g., medical providers such as physicians, hospitals, clinics, labs, etc.) is a challenging problem for the healthcare domain. This chapter studies the way that well-established software engineering concepts and architectural styles can be employed to satisfy requirements of the healthcare domain and ease health information exchange (HIE) between stakeholders. Towards this goal, this chapter proposes a hybrid HIE architecture (HHIEA) that leverages the studied styles that include service-oriented architecture, grid computing, publish/subscribe paradigm, and data warehousing to allow the health information systems of stakeholders to be integrated to facilitate collaboration among medical providers. To demonstrate the feasibility and utility of the HHIEA, a realistic regional healthcare scenario is introduced that illustrates the interactions of stakeholders across an integrated collection of health information systems.

Utilisation of Health Information Systems for Service Delivery in the Namibian Environment

2016 ◽  
pp. 169-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Karon
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Health Information Systems ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Portable Devices ◽  
The Public

The use of Health Information Systems (HIS) is considered to be a major contributing factor to healthcare service delivery. However, the utilisation of HIS which includes use and management is critically challenging in the public health sector in many developing countries. The manifestation of the challenges results in poor service delivery, which includes patient deaths. This is the main motivation for this study, to investigate how HIS can be used to improve service delivering in the hospitals from developing countries perspective. The study was carried out in Namibia, using two hospitals in the public healthcare. The study adopted the qualitative case study. The study revealed that the use of parallel systems, lack of systems integration, lack of portable devices and users' incompetency are some of the factors which impact the use and management of HIS in hospitals.

Toward Integrating Healthcare Data and Systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 740-773
Author(s):  
Timoteus B. Ziminski ◽  
Steven A. Demurjian ◽  
Eugene Sanzi ◽  
Thomas Agresta
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
Health Information Exchange ◽  
Health Information Systems ◽  
Medical Providers ◽  
Healthcare Data ◽  
Architectural Styles ◽  
Service Oriented

The adoption of health information systems and the integration of healthcare data and systems into efficient cross-institutional collaboration workflows of stakeholders (e.g., medical providers such as physicians, hospitals, clinics, labs, etc.) is a challenging problem for the healthcare domain. This chapter studies the way that well-established software engineering concepts and architectural styles can be employed to satisfy requirements of the healthcare domain and ease health information exchange (HIE) between stakeholders. Towards this goal, this chapter proposes a hybrid HIE architecture (HHIEA) that leverages the studied styles that include service-oriented architecture, grid computing, publish/subscribe paradigm, and data warehousing to allow the health information systems of stakeholders to be integrated to facilitate collaboration among medical providers. To demonstrate the feasibility and utility of the HHIEA, a realistic regional healthcare scenario is introduced that illustrates the interactions of stakeholders across an integrated collection of health information systems.

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