The City Council committee on information and communication technology believes that the P1.8 million that the city will spend to develop an information system at the Cebu City Medical Center would certainly improve the efficiency of the city-run hospital.
The appropriation would be the city’s counterpart in the Central Visayas Information Sharing Network Foundation Inc. for the project called ICT Skills and Knowledge Capacitation for the Development of a Hospital Information System.
In a report, the committee said “there is a need to improve the efficiency of the Cebu City Medical Center…it is hoped that by improving the efficiency of separate departments, and of CCMC as a whole, can lead to decrease in operational costs.”
The hospital information system would enable better patient care, patient safety, efficiency and reduced costs. It would also provide easy access to critical information thereby enabling the management to take better decisions on time, the end result-streamlining of operations, enhanced administration and control, improved response, cost control and improved efficiency.
Budget records at CCMC showed that the hospital requires at least P127 million every year for its operations. Cost to collection ratio studies conducted by the Mayor’s Management Team also showed that the value of services provides by several departments – plus receipted income for such services – are much less than the amount expended for their operation.
The committee said it would also benefit the hospital if its Management Information and Computer Services personnel would gain additional knowledge in designing, developing, installing and maintaining an information system for CCMC.
The committee said the use of Information and Communication Technology had been proven to improve operational efficiency of public hospitals like the one in the hospitals run by the provincial government of Bulacan.
“The possibility and potential for replicating the benefits of Hospital Information System in CCMC exists, and is the immediate objective of this proposal,” the committee said.
The committee then recommended that the project expectations must include not only the hospital board and hospital information staff but also the mayor and the legislative offices.
It also recommended that proper expectations setting and implementation guidelines must be put in place to assure the project’s success. — Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM