Since the launch of Grenada’s first Electronic Medical Records (EMR) programme earlier this month, work has been ongoing to ensure that the system is up and running in the most efficient and effective manner. The company selected to carry out this task is Canadian Health Systems, Inc.—one of Canada’s renown operators of electronic medical records. The Canadian company believes there are endless opportunities to improve access to better health on the island, while creating jobs in the process. In a recent government Post Cabinet Briefing, Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Thom Tyson announced his company’s plans to open a branch on island, where he intends to hire and train young Grenadians in the field of digital healthcare. “We’re going to start hiring. We’re going to hire about twenty to twenty-five people to start, and we’re going to start training them,” Dr. Tyson said. The CEO, who is currently on the island, said his team has been conducting the necessary ground work for the successful implementation of the programme. “What we are doing right now is the first step, which is putting in place an Electronic Medical Records System across all of the community health centers as well as the health stations. The next step would be to connect the hospitals, so that they can have a real time understanding of the needs of the patients being served,” Tyson told the media. He said some of the immediate benefits to expect from EMR are inter-connectivity and quick access to information. “You may be in a different parish visiting, and you trip and you sprain or break your ankle, you will be able to go to a health facility—you’ll know the wait time, you’ll know the name of the doctor that you’re going to see, and when you go in they will have your full record at all times. This has solved so many problems for our patients and our community as a whole,” Dr. Tyson said. The CEO said the positive energy emanating from the island, in terms of human resource, is just the type of environment a company like his requires to develop the highly connective system, and with the workforce available, he looks forward to implementing what could be the best and most connected, real-time EMR in the western hemisphere. “You have such as highly educated, positive, energetic group of people at all ages. Grenada has the best opportunity, because of its smaller size, of having a digitized health system that is going to show up over the next years to come as more and more people become skilled in this area, providing digital healthcare. There is a whole segment of the population that is going to be needed to learn the technology, the connectivity and the maintenance of these systems,” Dr. Tyson said. Source: gov.gd