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| Biometrics project deadline extended |
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| BY MARTIN CZERNOWALOW, ITWEB SENIOR JOURNALIST |
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[Johannesburg, 23 June 2005] -
The State IT Agency (SITA) has extended the closing date for bids for the establishment of a national electronic health record system for the Department of Health.The closing date for the request for information (RFI) from potential bidders has been extended to 12 August, after initially being set for the end of this week, following requests for more time from interested parties, as well as a request for SITA to host a briefing session.SITA information centre officer Thinus Lourents says a briefing session will be held on 29 June, in response to potential bidders' calls for additional information.The biometrics-based electronic health record project involves the establishment of a central “infomediary”, which collects and references key medical information on behalf of patients, says Len Klopper, MD of Electronic Patient Records, whose company is participating in the RFI.The project, he says, will allow for patient identification using fingerprints, and links patient data in various healthcare institutions. Until now government health facilities' electronic systems have had little communication with each other, with no cross-province communication.This means patients were tied to a single point of care, as their medical records could not be accessed at a different facility, Klopper says.Patient information is communicated using HL7, an international American National Standards Institute-accredited protocol adopted as a standard by the South African Department of Health. The secure data is accessed with the patient's express consent and this is controlled through the use of biometrics, which also controls user login and access levels, he adds.Related story:
Bids for health project close this week
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