[Guest Blog] Using Tech to Improve the Healthcare Sector in Tunisia

This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: New blog articles in Microsoft Tech Community.

This post by Developer Technologies MVP Hamida Rebai is part of the Humans of IT Guest Bloggers series. As technology becomes essential in all sectors including (or especially!) healthcare to improve lives, Hamida, who hails from Tunisia, shares about how tech enables electronic records, telemedicine and mobile apps, which allow patients to get notified about taking their medication and appointments with doctors.

 

Today, when we think about building a healthcare solution, we need to not only use inspiration from other solutions and experiences, but also learn to build a new vision that's aligned with the culture of the country and its unique needs. The most challenging part is working with doctors and patients to create a healthcare ecosystem by connecting different healthcare providers using digital cloud-based solutions with the goal of transforming healthcare.

 

For those who don’t know me, I’m a Tunisian woman in tech who has been living in Quebec City, Canada for the past two years and counting. I'm a Software Architect and Microsoft MVP with a mission to help people improve their skills in technology. I believe we have a big opportunity offered to us in this domain, and we can make better solutions to help each other. Here's a photo of me at the Arab Mobile App Challenge presenting on one such solution: 

 

Pitching the Healthcare cloud solution in a competitionPitching the Healthcare cloud solution in a competition

 

When I was still in Tunisia (a developing country that has struggled to rebuild new and practical economic policies after the revolution in 2011), young Tunisians took the initiative to launch their own startup companies and thought about ways to help the government in the development process for every sector. However, the most important one that desperately needed support and was thus the top priority was the healthcare sector.

 

Why is technology in healthcare so critical? In Tunisia, believe it or not, most medical records are still in physical paper formats in public hospitals. Paper charts come with many limitations, including the inablility to share them outside the hospital or with other departments that may need to reference this important data in order to make a sound diagnosis. The private sector, however, has started exploring some solutions to improve their appointments and patient follow-up sessions.

 

For Tunisians, visiting a doctor is often the last resort when we are sick. It takes weeks upon weeks to just get an appointment. Then, there is the inconvenience of leaving your house and getting stuck in traffic, and waiting in a crowded reception area, only to be seen for a few short minutes by the doctor. This is a time-consuming hassle, which has led many Tunisian patients to only go to the doctor when the situation becomes more critical. It's a broken system. 

 

Let’s start by looking at some statistics for example. According to OMS (Organisation Mondiale de la santé) and the World Health Organization, 15% of Tunisians are diabetic (or 1.7 million), and this number increases year after year. Most of these people are unable to see their doctors without waiting a long time to secure an appointment. Poorly-managed diabetes causes serious complications and premature death, and more than 80% of these people face complications from their condition if left untreated.

 

Cardiovascular illness-related mortality represents 28.9% of total mortality (source: The National Information System on the causes of death).  In Tunisia, there are no annual medical check-ups available, so most patients do not even know about their condition until it's too late. Tobacco consumption, rising cholesterol levels, diabetes, stress, sedentary lifestyle coupled with an aging population are all contributing factors to this disease, and no one thinks to go to see a doctor due to long waiting times (it can sometimes even take months to get an appointment at a public hospitals!).

 

Tragically, sometimes patients unfortunately pass away while they are still waiting for an appointment. Even if they were to start treatment, they often can’t continue the follow-up due to complicated administrative procedures. Finding an effective solution for this chaotic healthcare system was a big challenge, and required that all local startups to pool their ideas together to propose multiple apps.

 

When I was in Tunisia, I presented a highly scalable and flexible solution that fits a variety of intake processes for the doctor. It's is a full-range service that improves bookings management, reduces no show and helps bring new patients to their office. This electronic record for patients is a digital solution that facilitates sharing information between all healthcare professionals. Doctors can access information related to the patient, and can set up proper permissions to authorize the doctor to view patients' medical records in the event that the patient is unconscious and cannot answer. Many countries are now using this system called Electronic Records Healthcare (ERH), or Electronic Medical Records (EMR).

 

Unfortunately, to set up a similar solution in Tunisia, you need a lot of time and changing mindsets/culture is an uphill task, especially because this solution was used only in the private sector for three years. However, with the increase in mobile phone usage, there are new mobile applications being developed almost daily to help patients with treatments, medicine prescriptions, mental health issues, tracking steps, blood glucose, insulin, carb intake, heart rate, and measuring hydration. These apps also can serve as a follow-up tool between patient and the doctor (telemedicine).

 

As telemedicine becomes even more important today in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19),  doctors can provide a remote diagnosis and treatment plan for patients using the application. I used a similar solution two weeks ago, and it is an excellent alternative to an in-person visit and safer in terms of not exposing both the patient and doctors to possible infections. The doctor even sends the medicine prescription straight to my local pharmacy using the same system.

 

In Tunisia, we have started working on technology in healthcare to help fight and track COVID-19. I am also contributing to this effort by using Power BI to estimate the evolution of the virus, and get analytics by region to prevent more. You can watch this video to learn more, and view the Power BI Dashboard we've created.  

 

Other solutions were also implemented during this period like using robots, 3D printers and bots to help answer common medical questions, thus saving the doctors additional time and effort so they can focus their time on patients that need the most care. I hope this inspires you to explore how you can help your local community leverage #TechforGood, and to use your own tech superpowers to make a lasting social impact on our world!

 

--

 

How are YOU using tech to change the world and help solve complex world problems? Share your ideas and projects in the comments section below!

 

Interested to connect with  ? Follow her on Twitter at @RebaiHamida. 

 

#HumansofIT

#TechforGood

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.