Our Reporter
A new revolution has kicked off in Lagos State’s health sector with the introduction of Smart Health Information Platform (SHIP) to transform data transmission and management across all State-owned healthcare facilities.
The highly secure digital cloud is a State Government-led effort designed in collaboration with eClat, a health technology company, and Interswitch Limited, to create a backbone for seamless movement of patients’ data and to enhance digital transformation in the State’s healthcare.
Digital Health Platform Limited — a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), comprising Lagos Ministry of Health, Interswitch and eClat — has been appointed to jointly drive the operation of the technology.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday, supervised the signing of the Concession Agreement between the Office of Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the Digital Health Platform Limited ahead of the full deployment of SHIP in the State’s health sector.
The agreement signing was also witnessed by the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro.
The digital system will eliminate loose data sharing and transmission through manual systems, while providing improved protection and privacy for patients’ data.
Sanwo-Olu described the innovation as “transformational step” in simplifying data collection and usage in the health sector, stressing that the State Government made a “bold move” in leveraging technology to enable efficient health delivery.
The innovation, the Governor said, would enable proper allocation of resources and empower decision makers to analyse and evaluate the impact of interventions in the sector.
He said: “We have seen global trend in using technology as a backbone to manage healthcare delivery and to assess changes in lifestyle of the population. We have seen the transformation the technology has brought to banking, transportation and education. Smart Health Information Platform is our own bold step to transform healthcare and ease the cumbersome data processing in our hospitals.
“This transition has taken us about two years of building a robust platform that will secure and protect patients’ data. During this journey, we are able to identify the best partners that will deliver and help us realise our vision for the transformation of services in our hospitals. This is the beginning of full information technology reform in our healthcare system.”
Sanwo-Olu assured the public of full protection of the database, saying there was nothing to worry about in maintaining privacy of the data collected through the platform.
The Governor said data privacy was critical in the process of designing the digital platform, noting that the Ministry of Science and Technology was fully involved in the project and signed off on it before launching.
“As the technology is being rolled out, I believe the State will see the benefits of the decision we are making today. We hope to see how this will strengthen and enhance access to healthcare, enable us to analyse the health needs of the people and guide our interventions in the sector,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said the State-owned General Hospitals alone generated 7 million contact data, aside data collected by Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), tertiary health institutions and private hospitals.
Managing the data, the Commissioner said, required a robust digital infrastructure that would enable elimination of repetition and errors in data collection.
Abayomi said the SHIP would also empower the Government to plan and coordinate health services across all levels.
He said: “When the data are in one place, we can then use that data and collect trends on the health-seeking behaviour of Lagosians. This is critical, because we can use the data for policy definition and use the data to apply resources to certain places. The platform is not only for the care of the patients, but also for the policy makers.”
Group Managing Director of Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, said the solution would not only allow free flow of data from one health institution to another, it would also provide seamless payment options for patients.
He assured that the platform would not compromise data of patients and other information stored on it, saying: “This partnership is something we won’t take with levity.”
