The Policy Support Observatory (PSO) at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is engaging all health care providers and stakeholders to define a roadmap for eHealth in Lebanon through determining its essential pre-requisites and elements.
Building Consensus on the Readiness for EHR in Lebanon
Focus Group Discussions
Four focus group discussions were conducted separately with key informant stakeholders including private hospitals, information technology (IT) specialists, third-party payers and the public sector.
Challenges, barriers, and success factors at the level of the 4 dimensions of EHR adoption were generated from these focus group discussions. The major themes discussed at the level of the “Governmental Regulations and Roles" dimension were poor governmental mandate and coordination, weakened leadership, fragmented health sector, etc. Many suggested that commitment, support, and cooperation help in overcoming these barriers. The majority believed that confidentiality issues and lack of awareness are the major barriers behind the “User Access and Accessibility Policies and Infrastructure" dimension, while “Standardization, Policies, Procedures, and Protocols" are challenged by lack of unified standards. Feedback on the “Information Communication Technologies Architecture/Infrastructure" dimension showed that high cost, database issues, and weak infrastructure are the main barriers to the implementation of EHR.
Surveying Stakeholders
An online survey titled “Roadmap for e-Health in Lebanon - Hospital Readiness Survey" was sent out to stakeholders including hospital staff, Information Technology (IT) staff and third-party payers' staff.
|
EHR Current Status |
Percentage |
| Organization has an EHR | 32%
|
| Organization uses electronic internet billing with insurance companies | 35%
|
| Organization has online communication methods/tools with patients | 47%
|
|
Organizational Alignment |
Percentage |
| Organization has a plan to implement an EHR or any other e-health projects | 35%
|
| Senior management views EHR as key to meeting future organizational goals | 90%
|
|
Operational & Technology Readiness |
Percentage |
| Organization identifies ways in which EHR can improve current workflow and processes | 58%
|
| Top-level executives are prepared to upgrade hardware (if required) to ensure reliability of an EHR system performance | 66%
|
|
Human resources Readiness |
Very Advanced
or Advanced
|
Average |
More education is needed |
No awareness at all |
| Overall level of awareness and knowledge about e-health among human resources at the organization |
41% |
30% |
27% |
6% |
General Meeting
A General Meeting was held on June 15, 2019 at the American University of Beirut. The Minister of Public Health, his Excellency Dr. Jamil Jabak, was represented by Eng. Sami Slim, and the Minister of State for Administrative Reform, her Excellency Ms. May Chidiac, was represented by Mr. Nasser Asraoui. A total number of 103 stakeholders attended the meeting representing different governmental and private institutions including the Syndicate of private hospitals, Order of Physicians, Order of Nurses, Order of Pharmacists, Internal Security Forces, State Security Forces, General Security Forces, the Lebanese Army, third-party payers, and software providers.
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Four speakers presented the experience of several countries in implementing Electronic Health Records. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion whereby the audience and speakers shared their thoughts and beliefs.
Meeting Agenda:
Project Leads
Dr. Ghassan Hamadeh
CMIO, Professor & Chair of Family Medicine at AUBMC
E: ghamadeh@aub.edu.lb
Mr. Joe-Max Wakim
Director, IT Medical Center Processes and Systems at AUBMC
E: jmw@aub.edu.lb
Mr. Ali Romani
IT project Manager, Ministry of Public Health
E: a_roumani@yahoo.com
Project Committee
Mr. Hossein Hamam
E: hh49@aub.edu.lb
Ms. Najla Daher
E: ngd01@mail.aub.edu
Ms. Rita Nassar
E: rnn18@mail.aub.edu
Ms. Sawsan Allam
E: allam.sawsan@gmail.com
About the PSO
Dr. Walid Ammar, General Director of the Ministry of Public Health, has worked hard over the past two decades to lead the health sector and achieve the investment in the quality and capabilities of the Ministry staff. Based on his initiative, the PSO was established as a joint partnership between the Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organization in Lebanon, and the American University of Beirut. Its mission is to contribute to rational and sustainable policy formation and implementation by:
- Institutionalizing the reliance of MOH and key health sector stakeholders on strategic intelligence that contextualizes technical evidence with operational knowledge of the health sector and analysis of stakeholder and end-user expectations and interests
- Promoting effective and resilient collaborative approaches to health sector governance
- Enhancing the social consensus around shared health sector policies
For more information please check
Policy Support Observatory (PSO) Website