BIDMC, Pan American Health Organization partner to advance eHealth in Latin America, Caribbean

The Division of Clinical Informatics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization have signed a framework agreement to collaborate in supporting the advancement of eHealth in Latin America and the Caribbean. BIDMC efforts will be led by Director of Global Health Informatics Yuri Quintana, PhD.

The WHO defines eHealth is as the cost-effective and secure use of information and communication technologies in support of health, including treating patients, conducting research, educating the health workforce, tracking diseases and monitoring public health.

"This collaboration will allow us to tap into the vast expertise of BIDMC's informatics division and clinicians, as well as the entire Harvard community," said Quintana. "As a systems design engineer, I'll be looking at the institutions, care providers and patients and the information that flows among them with the goal of determining how technology can facilitate communication, education and care coordination."

Quintana will work with his technical counterpart, David Novillo, PAHO eHealth Program Coordinator, on eHealth training strategies and the development of research priorities and publications for use in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"We'll be studying how different implementations in different countries are adapted to fit local needs," said Quintana. "We'll then examine how effectively communicating best practices can help improve outcomes while reducing costs."

Quintana and Novillo will begin by looking at newborn and maternal health.

"One of the United Nations millennial goals is to reduce infant mortality," Quintana added. "Progress has been made, but in some countries there are still infant mortality rates as high as 30 to 40 percent in areas where there are fewer services. This problem lends itself to telemedicine and eHealth because technology can connect experts where they're needed and when they're needed."

Quintana will collaborate with BIDMC clinicians Charles Safran, MD, Chief of the Division of Clinical Informatics, James Gray, MD, Neonatologist, and Hope Ricciotti, MD, Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Drs. Safran and Gray developed one of the world's first telemedicine applications for neonatal care called Baby CareLink in 1996.

"For more than 45 years, the goals of BIDMC's Informatics Division have been to improve the quality and reduce the cost of medical care, to enhance the quality of medical education, to improve the relationship between doctor and patient, and to explore innovative approaches to research through computing," says Safran. "We look forward to sharing our expertise with colleagues from Latin America and to explore long term collaborations."

Beyond his interest in global health, Quintana has a personal connection to maternal-fetal medicine. His paternal grandmother passed away after hemorrhaging while giving birth in the remote village of Pucón, Chile.

"They didn't' realize how serious it was and didn't know how to stop it," said Quintana. "There are some basic ways to stop hemorrhaging that can be taught using eHealth platforms. If we just apply the knowledge we have with better training and better communication, we can make a huge impact."

Ultimately, this partnership will provide increased technical support to the Governments of the region in the area of eHealth and within the framework of implementation of the PAHO eHealth Strategy and Plan of Action (2012-2017) and of the PAHO/WHO 2014-2019 Strategic Plan.