In the past decade, there has been a concerted effort to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of data exchange within digital systems. This drive for improved data interoperability is particularly crucial in the digital health ecosystem – various systems are integral to supporting patient care delivery within their unique use cases and user workflows. Despite the diversity of these systems, they share a common goal: optimize efficiency in patient care.
Within similar workflows, users and policy makers often select different systems tailored to their specific needs, yet they seek consistent outcomes in terms of efficiency. These systems play a pivotal role in data reporting and exchange, especially when interfacing with data aggregation systems like DHIS2. Achieving seamless data exchange necessitates interoperability and standardization.
Medic harnessed the power of the OpenHIE framework to develop a reference application designed to serve the Community Health Toolkit (CHT) and other external systems including EMRs, EHRs, DHIS2 and other data aggregations systems. Medic created a Loss-To-Follow-Up (LTFU) reference application, validated by the Ministry of Health in Kenya and adopted for their instance with AfyaKE – a facility based system.
Renewing Our Partnership
In 2021, Medic and OpenHIE established a formal partnership to collaborate on data exchange standardization through the OpenHIE framework. As of April 2023, the CHT is now FHIR compliant based on the OpenHIE architecture.
Our team has additionally attended OpenHIE conferences, completed OpenHIE academy courses, applied learnings to enhance the CHT Core Framework, and showcased CHT interoperability at various occasions, such as the September 2023 OpenHIE Implementers Network Call.
We are thrilled to renew our partnership for an additional three years.
A Look Ahead
Recognizing the shared commitment to openness and interoperability, Medic is eager to exemplify OpenHIE’s vision, wholeheartedly adopting its standards and workflows as outlined in their Architecture Specification.
We are also committed to sharing our insights and experiences with the broader CHT community ecosystem. By implementing global standards effectively and emphasizing interoperability, technology holds immense potential to address healthcare disparities in the areas, and among the populations, that need it most. CHT Core v4, stewarded by Medic, serves as a versatile platform that can be tailored to support various healthcare protocols and standards, fostering robust interoperability within the digital health ecosystem.
Medic will harness its extensive networks and partnerships to promote the exchange of knowledge and encourage the sharing of country implementation initiatives. Additionally, we remain dedicated to allocating our time and resources to support OpenHIE in prioritizing activities within the larger community roadmap.