Technologies and innovations in RMNCAH services

Healthcare information technology (HIT) has been defined as “the application of information processing involving both computer hardware and software that deals with the storage, retrieval, sharing, and use of health care information, data, and knowledge for communication and decision making”. Health information technology includes various technologies that span from simple charting, to more advanced decision support and integration with medical technology.

HIT presents numerous opportunities for improving and transforming healthcare which includes; reducing human errors, improving clinical outcomes, facilitating care coordination, improving practice efficiencies, and tracking data over time. Meticulous planning, effective training, and ongoing monitoring of healthcare and technical staff as they use data systems, as well as installing data security systems, are essential to prevent, detect and plug data breaches as soon as possible. Telemedicine is an important innovation now practiced in many countries worldwide due to pandemic restrictions on public travel. With this technology, clinical practitioners see patients virtually, avoiding personal contact, while still being able to diagnose and treat patients for a host of illnesses. The saving of time and money has made this an attractive option for both patient and practitioner, and this trend seems unlikely to die down soon mHealth can be utilized in the form of mobile devices, wearables, and other devices that allow people to carry on with their routine activities, while the device sends invaluable data on a host of parameters back to the server.

This data can be used both in the present and the future to provide information on all kinds of trends and predictive factors to help research-driven efforts to promote and improve patient health. Tanzania has continued to tap on both mHealth and Telemedicine in improving quality of Maternal and newborn health. Few among these includes suse of WhatsApp groups for emergency teleconsultations, mobile applications for healthcare providers trainings(eLearning), online maternal death reviews and CME sessions using Zoom. More technological applications and innovations are expected to be presented in the conference for key stakeholders to learn and validate for feasibility and scalability in low resource settings in Tanzania.