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H2020: Partners sought by UK based SME for the delivery of a ‘Personal Health Record System’ in low and middle income countries

Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Reference Number: RDUK20170220001
Publication Date: 21 February 2017

Summary

A UK SME providing ICT courses in community learning centres is planning a project to investigate, design and implement a secure network-based medical record system for Cameroon government hospitals and health centres by adapting the Open Medical Record System (OpenMRS). Partners are sought for ICT-39-2016-2017 to test the system in other countries, provide training on OpenMRS with ‘plug-in modules’, test software modules designed to adapt and reconfigure OpenMRS and manage and analyse feedback.

Description

A North West UK based SME providing personalised and flexible ICT courses for learners in community learning centres in collaboration with colleges and universities is looking to submit a proposal for the ICT-39-2016-2017 topic ‘International partnership building in low and middle income countries’. The project focusses on the delivery of a ‘Personal Health Record System’ in the sub-Saharan region. It will investigate, design and implement a secure network-based medical record system by adapting the Open Medical Record System (OpenMRS) for Cameroon government hospitals, health centres and clinics and other healthcare providers in the region.



This would involve electronically managing and analysing patient records and sharing data with practitioners via clinical user friendly interfaces. The healthcare and management system would be accessible within districts and divisions of a region as well as across regions within the country. Issues to be investigated include:



-Local government confidentiality and access to patient records;

-Ability of the national health system to arrest epidemic outbreaks;

-Customisation, development and implementation of OpenMRS.



These will address secure patient records management and distribution for Cameroon in a LAN / WAN environment. The pilot system would be in Cameroon. One of the partners of the project would be in charge of the evaluation of the pilot.



The open source medical record system would be adapted to input patient data both, for and about patients, as well as data from doctors. This by using a tablet and mobile phone interface with the aim to enable new and existing records to be shared and distributed securely and ethically.



The stakeholders of the system include:



-End-users such as government hospitals and health centres, Ministry of Health, Medical Order, communications companies and universities in the central African region such as in Cameroon (e. g. Buea, Bamenda and Nchange), Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Nigeria;

-European partners.



The goals and objectives of this project are to identify patients at high-risk in various regions in case of an outbreak; and ensure they get the treatment they need quickly. Further, to develop algorithms to predict the number of days a patient will spend in hospital in a year.



Current participants in this project:



-UK based SME active in adaptable e-learning; specialist in bid writing and project adviser; linked to the University of Nchange and University of Buea, both in Cameroon;

-Computer science department of a major North West UK based university with expertise in design / development of identified software modules and content to adapt existing OpenMRS.



The SME has a team of specialised staff providing learning and training support; incl. ICT service provision in remote regions by partnering with dedicated broadband services companies in the UK and collaborating with VSAT (satellite internet) system providers for remote regions.

 

To complement the consortium the UK SME is looking for partners to:



-Test the system in the sub-Saharan region;

-Provide human resources and training on OpenMRS with ‘plug-in modules’ developed and adapted for patient record management in the sub-Saharan region; 

-Train facilitators on the use and management of patient records with the proposed system;

-Manage and analyse feedback for the test-run and implementation of the proposed system (with a view of future developments);

-Test software modules and components designed for the adaptation and reconfiguration of the OpenMRS in the sub-Saharan region.



Project duration is 18 months (generating innovation modules - 6 months; test-run / assessment & evaluation of the system - 6 months; feedback analysis and updates - 6 months). The anticipated budget is between EUR 1 and 2 million depending on the final composition of the consortium.



EOI Deadline: 24th March 2017

Call Deadline: 25th April 2017

Advantages and Innovations

This project would be the first of its kind in Cameroon and its neighbouring West-African countries, providing electronic health record access and management facilities. The innovative aspect is a flexible and adaptable plug-in software module for patient records management and the secure distribution of data.



The advantages of this system are that it enables doctors and medical practitioners in the target regions to diagnose, treat and evaluate patients more effectively by using customisable software tools built into the medical record system. The system will allow to automate patient management, assessment and evaluation and therefore, reduce the work-load of ‘manual evaluation’ of patient records (which is very common and time consuming in rural areas). It will allow for more relevant/ targeted medication to patients in the region and arrest epidemic outbreaks faster. The system will also enable the training of practitioners online.

Requested partner

To complement the consortium the UK SME is looking for the following from industry and acadmia:



-	Partners to Test the system in other universities in the sub-Saharan region;

-	Partners to provide human resources and training on OpenMRS with “plug-in modules” developed / adapted for patient’s records management in the Cameroon and sub-Saharan region;

-	Training of facilitators on the use and management of patient records with the proposed system;

-	Managing and analysing comments and feedback, particularly of the test-run and implementation of the proposed system for future development;

-	Testing software modules and components designed for adapting and reconfiguration of the OpenMRS system for the University of Nchange and the College of Technology at University of Buea, both in Cameroon and other partners in the sub-Saharan region.