Haiti Country-Wide EBM MCH Care Enabled by Clinical Engineering and Country-Wide HTM (In Progress) Submitted by Name: Tom Judd et al. Affiliation: Bethesda BRTH (NGO) National association (if exists): ACCE / IFMBE CED Location: Haiti E-mail address for contact: judd.tom@gmail.com
Country Estimates in Brief Please fill the statistics you can find Population 10,573,000 Population Growth Rate 1.17% Life Expectancy at Birth 63.51 years Infant Mortality Rate 47.98 deaths/1,000 Number of Health Centers in Country 10 Regions: Public & Private 2010 MSPP (MoH) data: 230 Clinics, Mobile Clinics, & Dispensaries; 110 hospitals Total Expenditure on Health as % of GDP 9.4% Global CE / HTM Success Stories
Country's Health Technology Program Key Success Story – In Progress Plans for a national referral hospital, initially focused on Maternal Child Health (MCH) using World Health Organization (WHO)-acknowledged evidence-based medical (EBM) care practices, are underway for Haiti. The following reference details hospital plans to open in 2020; community relationships have begun to be developed throughout Haiti in 2015; the project is known as NGO Bethesda Referral and Teaching Hospital (BRTH) aka Bethesda. (1) Addressing the Child and Maternal Mortality Crisis in Haiti through a Central Referral Hospital Providing Countrywide Care, The Permanente Journal, L. Jacobs, MD; T. Judd, MS; Z. Bhutta, MD; Spring 2016. Shows Bethesda plans & strategies. EBM MCH care will be enabled by health technologies (HT), specified by WHO, with HT planning & management (HTM) led by the author’s team (Bethesda board member / clinical engineer T Judd with other HT & IT experts). (2) Interagency list of medical devices for essential interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. World Health Organization (WHO), 2015. http://www.who.int/medical_devices/md_maternal_v12_web.pdf (3) Technology deployment to improve clinical outcomes, T Judd et al, Proceedings of 1st International Clinical Engineering Health Technology Management Congress China, October 2015. Example HT is Telemedicine and other EBM medical devices. (4) Developing HTM Capacity for Haiti, T Judd et al, WHO 2nd Global Forum for Medical Devices, November, 2013. Presentation outlines Haiti HTM country-wide strategy. March 2016 Global CE / HTM Success Stories
Country's Health Technology Program Next Steps for Success Story EBM article (1) published in The Permanente Journal in Spring 2016, see www.thepermanentejournal.org/issues/2016/spring/6061-haiti.html Bethesda’s funding raised 2016-2017; WHO MCH expert Dr. Zulfigar Bhutta notes: ‘Bethesda to provide EBM care at pennies on the dollar, versus similar projects globally; that is why I joined the team.’ T Judd leads ‘Technology’ team, Bethesda opening 2020; see www.brth.org, providing HT and Health IT tools; note references (2)-(4). The Technology team will not only plan and deploy HT/Health IT tools, but also oversee their management, further developing HTM strategies country-wide to ensure their ongoing sustainability along with public & private health facility partners. MCH example hospital partners include Mirebalais Zamni Lasante, CHS HSFS in Port-au-Prince, and MSPP (MoH) MCH hospitals country-wide. HTM partners include IMEC America www.imecamerica.org, and other existing public/private CE-HTM in Haiti, developed through discussions from 2012-present, see Reference 4. March 2016 Global CE / HTM Success Stories
Conclusions and Action Plan Improved MCH care is a dire need in most developing countries, as WHO statistics clearly demonstrate. This in progress CE Success Story provides a model for introducing EBM MCH care in a developing country with globally recognized health gaps, while enabling this care delivery through specifying, deploying, & managing of appropriate health and health IT technologies, aka CE-IT. The project is intended to not only provide tertiary EBM MCH care centrally, but also through public & private relationships, to enable this care country-wide, eg, through virtual care clinics in all areas, for improved secondary and primary care as well. March 2016 Global CE / HTM Success Stories