Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has officially launched the National E-Health project, designed to modernize healthcare in Ghana by moving patient records from traditional paper formats to digital platforms.
As the first e-health solution of its kind in Africa, this digital system is built with an emphasis on security, dependability, and accessibility. The Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS), in partnership with the Ministry of Health, is leading its implementation. This system creates a comprehensive digital record and patient management network, incorporating protocols from Ghana’s Disease Surveillance Unit.
Under this initiative, patient records in all teaching, regional, and district hospitals have been digitized and connected to a central network, ensuring smooth, electronic access to patient information across hospitals. As a result, patients referred from one facility to another, regardless of location, will no longer need to transport physical files to new hospitals.
Dr. Bawumia remarked that the fourth industrial revolution has accelerated technological advances across many sectors, including healthcare. He acknowledged, however, that while many developing nations, including Ghana, had previously struggled to fully capitalize on digital innovations, the current digital transformation agenda under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is changing that narrative.
“To change this story, I have championed various initiatives aimed at utilizing digital technology to improve government services, increase revenue collection, combat corruption, and foster financial inclusion and innovation in Ghana,” he stated. “Among the significant projects I’ve led are the Ghana Card, the digital address system, Ghana Post GPS, and mobile money interoperability.”
Dr. Bawumia also highlighted other major initiatives the government has introduced to improve healthcare, such as the Ghana Card at Birth project, the national e-pharmacy platform, the digital renewal system for National Health Insurance subscribers, the Zipline drone delivery service for medical supplies, and LHIMS, which is part of the broader national e-health initiative.
Previously, Ghana’s healthcare system faced challenges such as limited and delayed access to health records, difficulties in transferring records, outdated, isolated systems, issues in tracking revenue, and a lack of comprehensive data for informed decision-making.
The roll-out of LHIMS has, according to Dr. Bawumia, transformed healthcare service delivery in Ghana over the last six years. Since the pilot program’s launch in 2017 in the Central Region, LHIMS has strengthened healthcare processes and infrastructure across public health facilities, aligning with the government’s push for digital transformation.
“After a successful pilot in 2018, phase two of the project began in 2019. This ongoing phase has deployed LHIMS in around 481 healthcare facilities, including all teaching, regional, district, polyclinic, and psychiatric hospitals in Ghana’s 16 regions,” he shared. “The system is now in all major facilities, including six teaching hospitals, ten regional hospitals, 243 district hospitals, three psychiatric hospitals, and 50 polyclinics, with plans underway to expand to over 1,000 health centers.”
He noted that LHIMS has brought significant improvements in patient care, including streamlined records access, enhanced revenue accuracy, quicker NHIS claims processing, and shorter wait times. The system also enables rapid access to crucial epidemic data, which is essential for detecting disease outbreaks early.
Dr. Bawumia expressed hope that LHIMS will pave the way for telemedicine in the future, potentially reducing healthcare costs significantly.
Minister of Health Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye commended President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia for their vision, stating that LHIMS offers numerous clinical, operational, technical, and economic benefits. According to him, about 21 million Ghanaians—almost half of the population—are now registered in the system, with efforts ongoing to achieve full coverage.
Eric Agyei, the LHIMS Project Manager, emphasized the project’s long-term impact, saying the partnership with the Ministry of Health is set to transform Ghana’s healthcare system, highlighting the country as a pioneer in e-health innovation across Africa.
This article was sourced by MyABCLive.com from GNA.com.
