Personal health files for patients will be accessible by doctors, thereby sparing them from having to duplicate information that has already been investigated, such as blood tests. The Health Ministry, in association of the Central Informatics Organisation (CIO), is set to start work early next year on the four-year project.
Health Minister Dr Khalil Hassan said major IT companies will soon be appointed to help construct the system's infrastructure, a phase of the project which is expected to take two years.
"When completed, this project will offer a variety of services. For example, diabetics will be able to get information about the status of their health by entering figures such as blood pressure and so on," he said.
"Online files will give doctors all the information they need about a patient. They will not have to duplicate tests that have been done by other doctors, which will save them a lot of time.
"For example, the ministry conducts over a million blood tests a year, many of which are for the same people. The new system will prevent this."
CIO Assistant Under-Secretary Mohammed Al Amer said the system is closely reliant on the CIO's e-Government project and its Smart Card system, which will enable patients to carry their details, including health information, with them.
An important part of the project is also the establishment of physical health information centres in each of Bahrain's five governorates, said ministry Health Information director Ahmed Al Hujairy.
"These centres will gather health information in each directorate and conduct studies on various topics within their governorate such as the prevalence of diabetes and others," he said.
Mr Al Hujairy said at present the studies will be conducted at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) but that there are plans to launch the first of these centres in Muharraq in the near future.
Quelle: Gulf Daily News, 07.12.2003
