Two weeks ago, Evan, Neil, Emerson, and I kicked off this
project with a launch trip to Haiti.
While Evan has traveled to our Haiti sites many times, it was the first
visit for the rest of us. Brittany Eddy,
our Haiti Informatics Project Coordinator, did a wonderful job of accompanying
us throughout the visit – arranging tours and interesting conversations with a
variety of stakeholders, and ensuring we were fed, rested, and transported
around when needed. Below, I’ve outlined
a few of our primary objectives for the trip, explained how we accomplished
these objectives, and added in some photos to paint a picture of the
experience.
Seeing our sites in action drove home a lot of what I’ve
learned at PIH about the immense challenges our colleagues face daily providing
high-quality care in rural Haiti. Observing
the determination of our providers and the vibrancy of the communities with
which we work set the stage for our team to return to Boston eager to jump into the
Project Inception week (
photos here, and described by Darius in an earlier post), communicate what
we learned with the rest of the group, and begin building our - dare I say it -
audacious EMR.
Objectives
What: Gather context on current service delivery in Haiti
How:
- Visited two Zanmi Lasante sites - Lacolline Hospital and
Cange. Cange is PIH’s original site, and
Lacolline is the site currently managing our patient registration module pilot
(keep an eye out for future posts on this project).
- Engaged in conversations with physicians and nurses about
how care currently happens and how patients access our existing hospitals
and clinics.
In Action:
Patient registration at Lacolline
Paper archives at Lacolline
Pharmacy window at Cange
Queue for registration at Lacolline
What: Understand expected Mirebalais Hospital patient flows
How:
- Took an extensive hospital tour with Dr. David Walton.
- Shot numerous photos and videos of the buildings.
- Mapped standard patient visit processes to identify data
collection points.
In Action:
Mirebalais Hospital Tour
Mirebalais Ward
What: Gather clinical requirements
How:
- Met with physicians, nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacists,
security managers, and administrators about their daily tasks, biggest
challenges, and hopes for how an electronic system could support their
responsibilities.
- Considered important clinical indicators reported from our
sites.
- Discussed common scenarios during routine and emergency care
in rural Haiti.
In Action:
Pharmacy at Lacolline
Lab at Lacolline
What: Begin prioritization of requirements
How:
- Gathered feedback on our own synthesis of clinical
requirements.
- Asked stakeholders to choose requirements for our Minimum
Viable Product – termed “MVP”
- Encouraged collaboration and healthy debates over components
of the MVP.
In Action:
Lauren Spahn, Naomie Marcelin, Pierre Paul, David Walton, Evan, Emerson, Neil
