[FOSS_health] Interoperability - GK3 Panel Session

[Joseph Dal Molin]

Since this is a panel discussion I suggest that instead of word-smithing 
the abstract any more (other than adding "open" to describe standards) 
that we add some questions that will be posed to the panel to start off 
and stimulate discussion.... here are the ones I can think of off the 
top of my head:

~ Are current practices and investment strategies in health ICT's in 
developing countries fostering interoperability?
~ Given the high cost of integration observed in the "developed world's" 
health ICT ecosystems how can developing countries avoid this high cost 
and what is the role of FOSS in this context?
~ What role does or could open, collaborative ICT innovation among and 
development among developing countris play in fostering interoperability?
~ What methods need to be developed or exist to evaluate ICTs role in 
achieving health outcomes?

Hope this is useful.

Joseph

Molly Cheah wrote:
> True, but like with most datelines, stretchibility (if there is such a 
> word) appears to be the norm. I had since posted IDRC's initial crack at 
> revising the summary for comments/modify and I had also given my 
> comments. Please take a look at that.
> 
> Molly
> Joseph Dal Molin wrote:
> 
>> Unfortunately it was well past the end of the business day here in 
>> Ontario (Ottawa is in Ontario) when this message was received so I am 
>> not sure that these comments will be helpful given the deadline IDRC 
>> gave you. In any case.... here goes: Interoperability helps connect 
>> the dots and provide the framework to support feedback loops in health 
>> systems. This is essential to support continuous evidence based 
>> improvement of health care delivery etc. as well as providing evidence 
>> based decision support at the point of care. FOSS should make 
>> connecting the dots easier and faster to achieve. Where I got stumped 
>> is thinking of examples from the developing world....you might want to 
>> look at the report I did for IDRC last fall that fed into the Panacea 
>> project.
>>
>> Joseph
>>
>> Molly Cheah wrote:
>>
>>> Joseph, it would be more useful if comments is supported by 
>>> suggestions/examples.
>>> Anyway, this is IDRC's suggested proposal:
>>>
>>>> *Title*: Health outcomes: The role of ICT applications, standards 
>>>> and practices
>>>>
>>>> *Overview*: This panel examines the central issue of health outcomes 
>>>> through the lens of innovative ICT applications, standards and 
>>>> practices in developing countries. The session provides an inclusive 
>>>> overview of key issues pertaining to: changing health landscapes and 
>>>> realities, specific examples highlighting ICT-enabled solutions, and 
>>>> crosscutting issues of standards and interoperability of health 
>>>> systems – including the role of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
>>>>
>>>> Developed in a way to stimulate discussion within and among the 
>>>> panelists and audience members, the panel balances both practical 
>>>> and theoretical considerations, questions and concerns related to 
>>>> the role of ICTs in achieving beneficial health outcomes.
>>>>
>>> The above suggestion came in while I was asleep and have yet the 
>>> opportunity to respond. My reaction is the missing "open" to preceed 
>>> standards.
>>> Comments please? IDRC wants the final comments end of the day (Ottawa 
>>> time).
>>>
>>> Molly
>>> Joseph Dal Molin wrote:
>>>
>>>> There is a direct connection between "interoperability" and the 
>>>> "usefulness of ICTs in relation to health outcomes". Ignoring the 
>>>> semantics of what exactly "interoperability" means... for the GK3 
>>>> audience it will have a very general interpretation... I suggest you 
>>>> pursue that avenue to link the two session abstracts.
>>>>
>>>> Joseph
>>>>
>>>> Molly Cheah wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Dear all,
>>>>>
>>>>> As a follow-up of the discussion on interoperability and Lee 
>>>>> Seldon's summary, those who attended the OSHCA conference in KL in 
>>>>> May will remember that OSHCA had submitted a proposal to present at 
>>>>> a panel session "ICTs and Health" at GK3 in KL in December 2007. 
>>>>> The session title may be modified to make it sound more attractive. 
>>>>> See 
>>>>> http://www.globalknowledge.org/gkps_portal/index.cfm?&menuid=627&parentid=676 
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> OSHCA's submission had to go through IDRC as a partner because 
>>>>> OSHCA is not a member of Globalknowledge.org. Recent update from 
>>>>> IDRC is that OSHCA's submission had been merged with IDRC's own 
>>>>> submission to become a panel session on the main conference to be 
>>>>> restructured and renamed.
>>>>>
>>>>> The original submissions are as follows:
>>>>>
>>>>> Session Summary from OSHCA:*
>>>>> *
>>>>>
>>>>> "Open Source Health Care Alliance (OSHCA) believes that Free/Open 
>>>>> Source Health Care Software will provide a viable and sustainable 
>>>>> alternative in mainstream Information and Communication 
>>>>> Technologies (ICT) for positive impact in health outcomes as 
>>>>> adjunct to building a global knowledge society. Ability to share 
>>>>> data in healthcare provides the greatest potential for such impact. 
>>>>> The need for interoperability, open standards and data exchange in 
>>>>> FOSS technology is felt most in the developing world. Many FOSS 
>>>>> applications in healthcare have in fact been developed in relative 
>>>>> isolation from each other. Notwithstanding their commitment to 
>>>>> being open and standards compliant, there currently is no “forum” 
>>>>> and facility to test and develop interoperability among FOSS health 
>>>>> applications. Hence its crucial that these issues are addressed if 
>>>>> moving the FOSS agenda for health especially in developing 
>>>>> countries is to become a reality."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Session Summary from IDRC:
>>>>> "This panel discussion will focus on numerous issues related to the 
>>>>> usefulness of ICTs in relation to health outcomes. It will explore 
>>>>> the different experiences various partners have had with using 
>>>>> ICT-enabled health applications in developing countries. Amongst 
>>>>> the key areas the panel will focus on, special attention will be 
>>>>> placed on ICT interventions in the area of prevention, 
>>>>> administration, clinical uses, education and research. More 
>>>>> specifically, panelists will describe how ICTs can prevent the 
>>>>> spread of diseases, improve the efficiency of health systems and 
>>>>> make treatments more effective."
>>>>>
>>>>> Unfortunately, time is not on our side for refining these changes 
>>>>> but I have communicated with IDRC that it is agreeable that the 
>>>>> amended approaches for the GK3 panel should be seen seamlessly and 
>>>>> to go beyond individual applications. IDRC has earmarked the 
>>>>> presentation of the PANACeA project and OpenMRS at GK3. For us on 
>>>>> this mailing list the discussions had gone beyond how to have 
>>>>> interoperability to work but actually planning to test such 
>>>>> interoperability concepts in real locations and we already have a 
>>>>> summary of the discussions from Lee Seldon posted here.
>>>>>
>>>>> For the GK3 presentation amended proposal, in addition to 
>>>>> presenting issues on using open standards to address 
>>>>> interoperability and therefore enabling data exchange, we should be 
>>>>> able to put together several examples of interoperability 
>>>>> initiatives among FOSS health applications for the actual 
>>>>> presentation in December. Discussions to be included should also 
>>>>> evolve around the different types/levels of interoperability and 
>>>>> whether its sufficient to have "functional" interoperability and 
>>>>> the use of specific message format for communications. In 
>>>>> discussing options, it may be necessary to touch on how 
>>>>> interoperability works, features, how to implement, standards 
>>>>> compliance, advantages, disadvantages etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> I hope these ideas may be considered for the merged proposal texts 
>>>>> but if any of you would like to express further views, please 
>>>>> express them here on this list so that I can include them in my 
>>>>> responses to IDRC.
>>>>>
>>>>> Rgds,
>>>>> Molly
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> FOSS_health mailing list
>>>>> FOSS_health at oshca.org
>>>>> http://mailman.oshca.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/foss_health
>>>>> .
>>>>>
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