(Stock Photo)
Health Minister John Boyce has emphasised the importance of e-technology as Barbados charts a way forward for the healthcare system.
Speaking at the second consultation workshop for the development of a National Strategic Plan For Health 2017–2022 today, Mr. Boyce said that the challenge was to get buy-in on the movement from paper records in all areas of the health services, including hospitals, polyclinics and doctors’ offices, to “a secure, online state of affairs” which would make readily available the health information necessary to inform action.
He told stakeholders attending the workshop that Barbados’ health care system needed to be transformed into one that was highly sustainable and affordable “by leveraging innovation to support the redesign of health services toward managing chronic illness and supporting population health and wellness, particularly among the elderly.”
Of critical importance to this goal, the Minister added, were issues of governance, cost containment, sustainability, access to care and quality improvements.
He noted that the first round of consultations on the national strategic plan had been very productive and had assisted the Ministry in charting discussions around challenges to the healthcare system, identifying priority themes and strategies for addressing these challenges and developing concrete actions to support the strategies.
He hoped that today’s deliberations would have a similar outcome in helping Government to chart the way forward towards ensuring the sustainability of the health care system.