Q1: In your experience, what are the biggest challenges to achieving sustainability in health information systems, and how can they be addressed?
= The biggest challenge in sustaining health information systems (HIS) in the long run is securing long-term funding and investment. This funding is essential for system maintenance and updates, as well as for resources like hiring and training technical teams to support the system. Having enough funding to support HIS is crucial for its longevity. To address this challenge, in addition to receiving support from the government and health sectors, donor activities and developing systems that require less re-training (which means less funding to support) can help maintain the systems more efficiently in the future.
Q2: How has EHIS been designed to adapt to changing needs and technologies in your experience? If you haven’t encountered this, what features do you think are important for adaptability?
= During clinic hours at the OPD examination rooms, some hospital computers occasionally malfunctioned, preventing physicians or resident fellows from accessing the hospital health information system since other hospital computers were already occupied. However, a cloud system is being used exclusively by physicians and resident fellows, as it is restricted to their usernames and passwords. Nurses and other hospital staff cannot access this system. I have never used it personally since I do not have the right to access it, so I asked one of the fellows about its functionality out of curiosity. From what I remember, the cloud system essentially contains the same health information as the HIS on hospital computers and can be accessed on any device, such as a smartphone or iPad. This feature makes it easier for doctors to review their patients’ medical histories without needing to find a hospital computer. Therefore, this cloud system was created to address the limited access to hospital computers and improve overall efficiency.