MedTrack: Transforming Health Care Systems with Digital Records
MedTrack, one of the three innovations selected for the Open Challenge chapter of the Digital Health Innovation Acceleration Programme, is revolutionizing healthcare in Ghana through the digitization of records and enhanced interoperability.
By Anaswara Kovithal
Pearl Ajoa, a 30-year-old woman from the Nyanyano community in the Gomoa East District, Ghana faced a challenging pregnancy journey. In 2019, during one of her Antenatal Care (ANC) visits, it was discovered that she had a condition called Placenta Accreta. Unfortunately, when Ajoa went into labour at a different hospital than her ANC clinic, the medical staff there were unaware of her condition, leading to a miscarriage and putting her life at risk.
However, in 2020 when Ajoa was pregnant again, her situation took a turn for the better. Dr Clarence Basogloyele, the cofounder of MedTrack, a revolutionary Electronic Health Record system in Ghana, enrolled her on the initial version of MedTrack. This innovative platform connected Ajoa’s health records to her Ghanaian national ID, allowing for seamless integration of her medical history. MedTrack focused on consolidating her doctor interactions and securely sharing them with other physicians throughout her care period. This newfound convenience enabled her doctor to send prescriptions directly to a partner pharmacy, request ongoing imaging, and securely store the results under her health record for future reference. With the assistance of MedTrack, Ajoa successfully gave birth to healthy twins, Ryan Okoe and Liv Eunice.
“MedTrack made my pregnancy journey much easier, and I continue my twins’ healthcare journey with it”- Ajoa
MedTrack is a part of the first cohort of the Digital Health Innovation Acceleration Programme (DHIAP), an initiative by WFP Innovation Accelerator and BMZ Digilab — the innovation lab for digital solutions, powered by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in collaboration with GIZ, the German Development Bank KfW, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The selected solutions have a focus on building and supporting pandemic preparedness capabilities and speeding up demand-driven vaccine distribution and the recovery of communities and health systems. Through this programme, Medtrack received an equity-free grant of USD 250,000 and selection to a 12-month-long Sprint Programme to accelerate their solution through coaching, mentorship, and other support.
MedTrack stood out due to its unwavering commitment to addressing the challenges stemming from fragmented healthcare information and the loss of health data in low- and middle-income countries. This critical issue affects every patient who receives care from multiple providers. The World Health Organization has recognized the gravity of this problem, emphasizing that “the absence of an effective approach to managing patient information contributes significantly to avoidable morbidity and mortality.” Fortunately, MedTrack is successfully tackling this issue by supplying a comprehensive, facility-based platform that connects all relevant health stakeholders, ensuring both data privacy and convenience.
Connecting health service providers in one platform
Betty is a hospital administrator at the DL Hospital and Fertility Centre in Kasoa, who has seen a significant transformation in the hospital’s operations over the past six months. Previously reliant on paper-based records, the hospital underwent a remarkable transition. Initially, the receptionist would register patients using cumbersome paper records, while the nurse would record vital signs in a separate paper document. Subsequently, patients would meet with doctors who would create prescriptions. Finally, patients would take their prescriptions either to the in-house pharmacy or an external one. However, MedTrack has positively impacted the lives of Betty and the entire staff of DL Hospital including hospital administrators, nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and lab technicians. Now, patient registration in the system now takes less than 2 minutes. A dedicated electronic record for each patient is initiated and is linked to their National Ghanian ID. Nurses efficiently enter vital signs directly into the system, while visits to doctors, investigations, lab results, and medications are all meticulously logged within the same platform, allowing for comprehensive traceability.
The Ghanian government has achieved a significant milestone by successfully issuing a national biometric digital ID card to over 60% of the general population. This nation-wide digital identification effort is expected to cover more than 90% of the population by the end of 2023. Leveraging this free resource, MedTrack is revolutionizing healthcare delivery by supplying portable Electric Health Records to every citizen. Using digital ID numbers as unique identifiers for patients, health records are securely saved, retrieved, or shared across different platforms or facilities. According to the National Health Insurance team present at the DL hospital, a system like MedTrack makes it easier to validate claims and track the effectiveness of the insurance. MedTrack has currently enabled 160,000+ linkages to the National ID and processes 7000+ Electronic Health records monthly. By working closely with the National Identification Authority in Ghana, MedTrack prevents the duplication of efforts and ensures that resources are effectively used to achieve the common goal of delivering quality services to those in need.
In addition to its benefits for citizens, MedTrack has significantly improved the workflow of doctors. Doctors can now easily request the investigation from the lab to be seamlessly sent back to them. They can also send prescriptions to any MedTrack registered pharmacy through the system. Dr Mohammad Donkor from Millennium City Hospital in Kasoa, attests to the advantages of a system like MedTrack, as it provides him with a portable health record when he is on the rounds and helps him track his patients’ results especially when he sends for medicine dispense, refills, or investigation results.
Fast-tracking Innovations in Times of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has reiterated the need for robust health information systems. The Gomoa East District’s Health Directorate team is using MedTrack and is delighted by its interoperability. Dr Felix Agyeman Adipare, Director emphasizes that solutions like MedTrack are arriving at a time when digitalization is desperately needed in Ghana’s public health systems. “Apart from existing pressure on the health systems, we are also going through high migration in the district and having data-driven support will help us serve our communities better,” he says.
In the aftermath of COVID-19, the need for scalable digital solutions that can be implemented anywhere across the world, especially in resource-restrained and conflict conditions has increased. The Digital Health Innovation Accelerator (DHIAP) was a result of this quest for interoperable digital health solutions that use open standards and open approaches and can build pandemic preparedness in low and middle-income countries.
MedTrack has taken a proactive role by partnering with Gomoa East Health Services to implement their comprehensive health information management systems in Buduatta and Nyanyano health centres. These facilities currently cater to over 150,000 individuals. The success of this pilot initiative will serve as a catalyst for its replication in 22 other health centres under the Gomoa East Health directorate. Furthermore, the positive outcomes of this collaboration have the potential to pave the way for widespread adoption across the country.
