Endoscopy reporting software funded by the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) has been implemented in Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital, Zambia, to support auditing and the uploading of information to electronic medical records.
Nimzing Ladep, consultant hepatologist and software developer, and Mel MacCallum, endoscopy sister and international BSG committee chair for nurses, made the journey from the UK to Zambia to work with clinicians in Levy Mwanawasa’s endoscopy department, and to oversee the software’s implementation.
The initiative follows the successful implementation of the software in University College Hospital, Nigeria, where Nimzing reports that it received a “positive reception”. In Zambia, he shared how the software had been “seamlessly integrated into local PCs”, and how the app “allows for the creation of detailed reports”, PDF reports with images, and the capabilities to audit and upload information to electronic medical records.
He said that as well as implementing the new software, the team had gained “invaluable insights” into the “learning gaps faced by international nurses regarding gastroenterology and endoscopy”, which will be “crucial” to inform the project’s future direction.
User feedback on the software is still being gathered to be submitted to the BSG, and Nimzing highlights that this feedback will be “essential” to help develop the software to meet the needs of international collaborators.
In other news from the continent, the Gauteng Department of Health (DoH) in South Africa has begun the process of digitising patient records within its public hospitals, setting a target for 800 million to be digitised over the next three years as a “minimum”. The initiative forms a part of the DoH’s wider aim to expedite the adoption and “proficient utilisation” of its eHealth system throughout the province’s 37 public hospitals, to foster “a more efficient and effective healthcare system”.
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