The Gauteng Department of Health has implemented the clinical module at Mamelodi Hospital.
The department first announced in 2020 that it would be upgrading its information technology process with a new programme known as Health Information System to improve service delivery and the quality of healthcare.
The introduction of the new health information system, which enables the implementation of a one-patient-one-file system with the Gauteng public health system, is a game changer, ensuring better and faster access to health services for patients, according to MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko.
She said there had been a successful implementation of three of the four modules of the system which encompasses patient administration billing, finance and revenue that have been integrated into 37 hospitals and 33 community health centres.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said the system's deployment at Mamelodi Hospital was a crucial milestone, signalling the commencement of the clinical module’s roll-out to all facilities, starting with central offices.
“The first of the three of the four modules of this system has been able to improve patient administration, file management and the process of referrals at our hospitals and community health centres," she said.
She added that this system had also helped the department to improve in terms of billing and revenue management of hospitals.
She added that, with the clinical module successfully implemented and ready for roll out at all of their facilities, starting with academic hospitals, they would be able to fully digitise patients’ clinical processing, which would result in the accuracy of patient data.
“The system is user-friendly and is not difficult to navigate and understand, it will assist managers with retrieving accurate reports,” she said
She added that the system would also help hospitals with the allocation of beds.
The SMS functionality of the system assists with informing and sending reminders to patients about booked appointments and follow-ups. It also has referral and patient tracing capabilities, which had shown improvement in tracing patients’ movement from one facility to another.