More Tech Salons About ICT tools
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US Government agencies have issued a number of Grand Challenges to spur science, technology, and innovation. There is even Challenge.gov to solicit new challenges and solutions from the public. USAID is also looking at Grand Challenges, and had a recent conference to discuss them: Transforming Development through Science, Technology and Innovation.
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Text messaging is a quick and targeted way to reach beneficiaries in the developing world. But you already know that. Yet have you seen an SMS router close-up? Experimented with proven solutions that you can use in your existing programs? Or brainstormed on how SMS could add sizzle to your next proposal?
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Competitive private companies know that just adopting the tools of ICT will not magically lead to productivity gains – it takes much change and investments in business processes to really reap the rewards that ICT can bring. But this basic tenant can be lost in the hype around specific devices or technologies.
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As I listened to Mike McKay, former country director of the Baobab Health Partnership, speak about how his organization is improving patient care with ICT in Malawi, I was struck by four key themes in Baobab’s solution:
Mike McKay of Baobab Health- Start with Patient Data
- Keep Technology Easy to Use & Modify
- Always Build Local Capacity
- Project Poverty is an Advantage
Now neither Mike, nor Baobab’s founder, Gerry Douglas, made all these points explicitly, but they are the takeaways we can learn the most from.
Start with Patient Data
Knowing a patient’s past medical history is critical to continuity of care, particularly for patients with chronic illness. Do you know if the patient in front of you has tuberculosis? Or HIV? Or both plus malaria? Or is on any other medications or has any peculiarities you should know about them before you diagnose or treat their current ailment? If you had their medical records, you may. -
In this month’s Technology Salon, National Health Information Systems: Who Uses What, Where?, we discussed a recently-completed study by Vital Wave Consulting that surveyed the global landscape of national HIS ecosystems in the developing world. The overall outcome may surprise development practitioners, but its well known to IT experts: basic change management matters more than fancy technology.
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It often seems that there are as many health information systems (HIS) as there are governments – from custom legacy systems to new web-based applications. But which governments are using a HIS, what system do they employ, how has it helped them, and and what can we all learn from their experiences?
Health information system in practiceFor the next Technology Salon, we’ll focus on a recently-completed study by Vital Wave Consulting that focused on the global landscape of national HIS Ecosystems in the developing world. This study was sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to:
- analyze the developing-country landscape of national HIS ecosystems
- review prominent individual examples of HIS implementations
- identify critical success factors for projects to strengthen health systems
We’ll have Brendan Smith of Vital Wave Consulting lead us through the report highlights, India case study, and an accompanying online HIS forum with an engaged discussion around the various HIS fulled by by hot coffee and Krispe Kreme donuts sugar rush.
National Health Information Systems: Who Uses What, Where?
June Technology Salon
Friday, June 26, 8:30-10am
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)Do note that this Salon is on Friday morning, instead of Thursday, seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first fifteen (15) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.
