Heron Invited by CARICOM to Address CMOs

May 22, 2007, Markham, Ontario, Canada. Heron Technology Corp. announces that the company was invited by the CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market) Secretariat to address the annual conference of CARICOM Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) in Montego Bay, Jamaica, earlier this month.

The subject of the address was “how Information Technology (IT) can assist the CARICOM region in meeting the objectives of the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development (CCHD)” report released in July 2005. CARICOM is the organization that represents twenty countries (fifteen Member countries, plus five Associate Member countries) in the Caribbean, with its headquarters being based in Georgetown, Guyana, South America.

Heron has successfully implemented its Patient Administration System (PAS) in three Member countries (Jamaica, Montserrat, and Dominica), and addressed the benefits that would accrue to CARICOM countries through the implementation of the Heron PAS, on a standardized basis, in the countries of the region. The regional benefits were addressed under the headings: economic benefits; the benefits of enhanced health for the people of the region; tourism benefits; and efficiency benefits.

The benefits of a ‘common’ health IT system, already operational in the region, presents an opportunity to CARICOM countries which is not easily achievable in developed countries.

Heron deployed the PAS/JISS (Jamaica Injury Surveillance System) application software suite in Jamaican hospitals starting in 1997. The Heron PAS software is also deployed in Canadian hospitals, and meets the exacting reporting requirements of both the Ontario Provincial and Canadian Federal Governments.

In summary, Jamaica has now implemented a computerized health sector management system that is indeed today a ‘model’ for other developing countries, and developed countries, meaning worldwide. This is noted in eight articles prepared by a CDC-led team of 27 health experts that visited Jamaica for an in-depth review of the Heron PAS/JISS.

Dr. Elizabeth Ward, Director, Disease Prevention and Control, JMOH (Jamaica Ministry of Health) is the co-author of 5 of the articles. In the articles it is noted that: “the JISS…...has the flexibility to be coded locally for data collection (electronically) on any selected disease or topic.”(Injury, HIV/AIDS, SARS, TB, etc.). In Canada injury surveillance is conducted via a manual paper-based system in fifteen hospitals nationally.

The most important factors that must be taken into account by any country planning to computerize its national public health sector are: affordability, sustainability, functionality, interoperability, and standardization.

The Heron PAS/JISS, COMPASS, addresses these important factors, and is the key first step in achieving e-Health, leading to a national Electronic Health Record (EHR).