Since its launch in April last year, South Africa’s first industrywide health information exchange CareConnect has signed up 5.2m patients, said the non-profit, and expectations are for even more growth in the future.
Founded by the country’s largest medical scheme administrators and private hospitals – Discovery, Medscheme, Momentum Health, Netcare, Mediclinic and Life Healthcare – it provides clinicians with an electronic patient record that unifies the data held by the facilities and funders.
BusinessLIVE reports that arming clinicians and service providers with better information can help improve diagnosis and treatment, reduce unintended duplication of tests, and ultimately lead to savings that benefits patients and medical schemes, according to CareConnect CEO Rolan Christian.
While CareConnect currently operates only in the private hospital sector, talks are under way with the Radiological Society of SA to link radiology practices, while pathologists and other healthcare providers are expected to be involved as well in the future, Christian added.
Discussions were also ongoing with the national Health Department to gauge the scope for linking CareConnect’s health information exchange to its electronic patient records, like the electronic vaccination data system and patient registration system.
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