Govt touts use of technology, AI to improve health sector – Dr Anthony

To build out a world-class healthcare industry in the country, the Guyana Government is pursuing greater use of technology – including the use of artificial intelligence in the local medical field.
The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Changer on Wednesday hosted a Digital Health Strategy Meeting where subject minister Dr Frank Anthony spoke of the government’s efforts to revolutionise the health sector.

He explained that the ministry currently operates eight programmes, and it is about to introduce a ninth, focusing on digital health.
“We working very closely with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to develop electronic health records (EHR) for patients. While initially, it Is going to be for the Georgetown Public Hospital and its satellite clinics, the idea is whatever we develop there, once established, this system will extend to the entire health sector.” Dr Anthony revealed
Dr Anthony emphasised the importance of unique identifiers for patients within the public health system. These identifiers will follow patients across clinics, ensuring seamless access to their health records. Additionally, recent legislation, influenced by European Union standards, has been passed to support this digital transformation.

“We are also drafting new legislation, and we have just completed a telehealth legislation that will soon go to parliament. We have also drafted a medicine act with the help of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO),” Dr Anthony stated. “That too will soon go to Parliament.”
The minister envisions a comprehensive digital umbrella that connects various health services, significantly improving patient interface and reducing wait times.
“Right now, when people go to any one of our hospitals, have to wait a long time and that is compounded because we have a paper-based system… that is a very tiresome process. We spend a lot of hours and we lose a lot of manpower.
The new system aims to shorten these times by enabling quicker, more efficient service. An application for patients to download and manage appointments is also in the works, part of a broader effort to enhance service delivery.
“We recognise in the health ministry that it is really dealing with sick people, and it is not keeping people healthy. It is only when you get sick that is when you come to the hospital. We have to make that paradigm shift of trying to keep people healthy. We have started the process where we have started looking at school children…,” Dr Anthony noted.
Efficiency within the Ministry of Health is another critical area targeted for improvement. With approximately 4,000 employees, the ministry’s reliance on paper-based HR records has proven problematic. Over the past three years, substantial investments have been made in medical equipment for over 400 facilities. However, tracking and maintaining this equipment remains a challenge without proper digital infrastructure.
“Very few of our laboratory services are digitalised,” Dr Anthony admitted. “We need to improve this to enhance efficiency.”
To successfully implement these initiatives, extensive training will be required. He said AI is already being utilised to ease workloads in areas such as radiology and dental scanning.
In closing, Minister Anthony emphasised that the strategy should have clear objectives and outcomes. “In the strategy, we have some very pragmatic kinds of targets. We need to have some objectives and outcomes that can enhance patients’ experience in a realistic time frame,” he stated.