A collaboration agreement was signed with the Health Secretariat of Mexico City (SEDESA), with detailed worktables developed to ensure mutual timely contributions by parties to the agreement. The gaps and needs to be addressed in SEDESA were mapped. Following these, primary care has been prioritized since neglecting it may result in a further increase in preventable diseases and their worsening.
In the development of the worktables, the need to digitize primary care, to digitize the first point of contact, has been prioritized, because primary care does not have electronic health records (EHR). EHR allows a patient to be registered and to navigate to the next available level of healthcare. The latter may only be accomplished if it is based upon electronic health records. There are gaps to fill, such as software updates and non-standard data entry into hospitals. The existing gaps lower data reliability. Also, several software solutions have been developed in parallel for completing health records. They are not interoperable, which impedes the integration.
The adopted governance approach is aligned with the principles of Pan American Health Organization, to promote the health and well-being of citizens and provide access to healthcare to those without social security irrespective of where they live. The work plan aims to encourage standardization of patient and diagnostic data in Mexico City. This activity is envisaged to result in a traceable medical history for patients and healthcare providers.
Following the meeting at SEDESA, three projects have been prioritized to promote digital culture in healthcare:
- Telehealth Project (SEDESA-IDB)
- Development of the EHR at the first level, and standardization at the second level
- Digitization of records maintained by visiting health workers
All these projects will be developed hand in hand with the MH2030, contributing through our collaboration with government policies of Mexico that are aligned with the call by PAHO to achieve universal health coverage, following the principle “Health For All, Everywhere”.