Deneice Marshall - President BHIMA, Angela Randall – NMH Ireland, Ian Weithers President BAR

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EVENTSBarbados Association of Radiographers (BAR) and Barbados Health Information Management Association Conference. November 2015Angela Randall

Editor’s introduction: Following her attendance at this conference, Angela agreed to submit a report to HIM-Interchange. I provided her with some leading questions… Read on.

How did you come to attend this conference?This conference was advertised in the IFHIMA newsletter. I decided that as I was already on this side of the world, I would like to attend and support a developing health informa-tion management association. Therefore I submitted a paper, which was accepted, and consequently I packed my bags. The National Maternity Hospital in Ireland, where I was working at the time, very kindly supported my registration.

My paper on information governance was well accepted. This is the area of work with which I am involved and which I am passionate about. It is also important for HIMs worldwide. The content and the issues raised in the paper were discussed at the networking breakfast the following morning and included issues such as risk management and information security, and association membership and growth.

What were some of the highlights for you?One of the highlights was our visit to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a 600-bed acute general hospital facility that provides services in all disciplines including, importantly, radio-oncology treatment for the islands’ cancer patients. The tour of the hospital included a visit to the Radiology Department, Medical Record Department and the newly constructed secondary storage file area for long-term chart storage. I appreciated that records storage is a ubiqui-tous issue for all countries and here, primary storage was at a critical point. Legislation for retention of records prevented any destruction in any short-term program.

They were also being challenged by the integration of the Patient Administration System (PAS) system into the hospital management processes, including the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), which is now available in the eight poly-clinics that are associated with the hospital and located over the island.

This was a great opportunity to see in operation the workings of an acute hospital in a developing nation, and appreciate the challenges faced by staff every day. I thought the notion of the poly-clinics working with the hospital was fantastic; it supported patients in local rural areas and saved them the need to travel a great distance for care.

What were some of your favourite papers? Several speakers discussed the importance of ICT develop-ments, including the use and deployment of portable devices to support the local communities. This theme was highly regarded by both the HIMs and radiographers present. The development of an island EHR was also on the agenda. This technology will enable patients all over the island to partici-pate in their own healthcare management through the ability to log into the hospital system and make their own outpatient appointments, review and discuss their medications with medical personal via telemedicine facilities, and provide input into their health record. I thought this was very resourceful

for such a small island.

The keynote speaker was Dr Dexter James, CEO, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, whose presentation was

titled Re-engineering Healthcare: Emerging Opportunities and Potential Threats. Dr. James is a very proactive advocate for transforming the delivery of healthcare in Barbados through improved health information systems, and spoke of the exogenous factors impacting on the healthcare system. In Barbados the development and implementation of telemedi-

the development and implementation of telemedicine to the hospital’s eight satellite poly-clinics in the rural areas of the island is crucial for small communities in the management of

their healthcare services

Ms. Deneice Marshall, President of BHIMA and members

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cine to the hospital’s eight satellite poly-clinics in the rural areas of the island is crucial for small communities in the management of their healthcare services.

Health promotion strategies were raised by another speaker, emphasising the use of mobile phone technology. With 42% of the islanders now diagnosed as T2 diabetics, this has become an urgent issue.

The cost of treatment on the island, and the need for classification and cost evaluation were also discussed. While the island is not casemix funded, cost accountancy and the economic argument were tabled for discussion.

Who were some of the other presenters and what issues were discussed?Ms Susan McClernon, President/CEO of Innovative Healthcare Leadership presented a paper on Strategic Thinking and Innovation – Transforming Healthcare. Sue spoke of change management through knowledge, information and collabora-tion, identifying staff passions and team building.

Mr Glen Gale from IBM discussed current technolo-gies available to hospitals and healthcare organisations, and the importance of integrated health systems and the EHR.

The digital hospital in Huber, Canada was also discussed and featured in a short video.

A number of other presenters from Barbados presented on the island’s Registry Office, which tracks the prevalence of a number of cancers and other diseases. The importance of data quality, confidentiality and security of data being stored at the Registry and the use of mobile technology to increase adoption of treatment guidelines in the various diseases were discussed.

Did you get time for some networking while you were there?Yes; there was a networking breakfast where a panel of the international presenters covered the issues presented the previous day. The morning was lively and highly interactive. In addition, the evening “meet and greet” provided me with the opportunity to meet many of the delegates from Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica, as well as my international colleagues from Canada and the US.

Take the opportunity to attend conferences, step out of your comfort zone and present a paper.

The networking opportunities to learn from and share with our HIM colleagues cannot be measured.

Angela Randall addresses the Barbados Association of Radiographers (BAR) and Barbados Health Information Management Association Conference

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EVENTS

Angela Randall MPH, GradDipEd, BAppSc(MRA), AssocDipMRA, CertPMABF - Data ManagerThe National Maternity HospitalDublin, Ireland.email: arandall@nmh.ie; angelarandall@hotmail.com

I understand you gave another presentation while you were in Barbados. Can you tell us about that?Yes, this was another highlight. I visited the Health Sciences unit at the College of Higher Education where I gave a presentation to the medical record students on the health information management career and work. The students were attentive and interested in the international perspective of the course and the information available to them through our international organisation, of which Barbados Health Information Management Association is a member.

Anything else?Ever the “people person”, for me the biggest highlight was being able to meet and network with the HIMs and radiog-raphers from Barbados and some of the other Caribbean countries, and also share some of my experiences with the students. I believe it is important to share our knowledge and experiences as we all learn and benefit from these occasions.

Advice for our readers?I would say to every HIM and CC: Take the opportunity to attend conferences, step out of your comfort zone and present a paper. The networking opportunities to learn from and share with our HIM colleagues cannot be measured. You will make new friends and be comforted by the understanding that others are dealing with similar issues, or are even worse off than you are.

AcknowledgementI thank Deneice and Ian and their respective associations for their kindness, friendship and generosity during my visit to Barbados.