– MEDITECH will deploy their Expanse EHR platform at Aga Khan’s academic medical center and clinics across Nairobi, Kenya.
– Launch of the system is expected in 2020 with subsequent deployments in Karachi, Pakistan; Kabul, Afghanistan and Kampala, Uganda.
– The EHR implementation will be a joint effort between MEDITECH and MEDITECH South Africa.
MEDITECH has further extended its global presence by partnering with Aga Khan University, an international institution of distinction providing health services to millions of people in the developing world, to deploy their MEDITECH Expanse EHR platform. MEDITECH Expanse will be deployed at Aga Khan University’s academic medical center and clinics in Nairobi and across Kenya with subsequent deployments in Karachi, Pakistan; Kabul, Afghanistan and Kampala, Uganda. The implementation will be a joint effort between MEDITECH and MEDITECH South Africa.
Lack of EHR Adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is a resource-constrained region that suffers a top-heavy share of the world’s burden of disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 12% of the world’s population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the region suffers 27% of the world’s total burden of disease.
Poor health information system has been identified as a major challenge in the healthcare system in many developing countries including sub-Saharan African countries. Electronic health record (EHR) has been shown as an important tool to improve access to patient information with attendance improved quality of care.
Aga Khan University (AKU) Hospitals in East Africa & Pakistan
Aga Khan University (AKU) has taken a broad, long-range, research-based approach to health that addresses chronic issues in poor communities. As its universities and teaching hospitals are located in the developing world, it conducts world-class research on the endemic and emerging health issues of these areas. Working with partners across the globe, its ultimate aim is to create efficient and appropriate health systems that raise the quality of life of populations in the developing world. The University delivers programs on campuses in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom, and treats more than two million patients per year through seven hospitals and more than 350 medical centers.
“This is such an exciting opportunity and challenge for us,” says Charlotte Jackson, CEO of MEDITECH International, the international arm of MEDITECH. “We’ve seen firsthand what an integrated EHR can do in the developing world, we know what we achieved in Botswana, using technology to deliver population health concepts in a remote, underserved area. We can’t wait to start changing lives across the countries that Aga Khan serves.”
EHR Benefits In Remote, Underserved Area
“The benefits of an integrated EHR will be particularly significant in the countries we serve,” says AKU President Firoz Rasul. “The access to an abundance of data (AKU serves 2.2 million patients annually) will enable us to ask better questions and find better solutions to specific diseases and chronic issues in all the communities we serve. The information gained will be of value not only within our own healthcare system but also to the population of the region as a whole—and through our research, will inform health outcomes in related populations across the globe.”
Launch of the system is expected to begin in 2020.
