The Public Hospitals Authority achieved a significant milestone on November 1st this year, when phase two (2) of the financial modules of its Integrated Health Information Management System (iHIMS) project went live. Previously on July 1, Phase 1 of the project, General Ledger and Supplier Portal, was completed. The iHIMS project was restarted last February after a brief hiatus. The restart of the project occurred subsequent to the Authority renegotiating its original Finance and Supply Chain implementation contract with INFOR resulting in more favourable terms for the PHA relative to costs, system capabilities and access to additional application modules in the future at discounted prices.

The implementation of iHIMS involves three (3) major components; Electronic Health Records (EHR) to improve patient and medical information management in our public hospitals and clinics; two, Financial and Supply Chain Management to improve the workflow for vendors and supplies; and three, Management and Infrastructure improvements to build a strong foundation for success. The iHIMS project implementation for the PHA entails four (4) distinct phases and go-live events over the next sixteen (16) months. The Electronic Health Records application will be incorporated in the final phase, as the Authority’s initial aim is to shore up its ability to generate revenues for services rendered and to create significant efficiencies in its Supply Chain management, ensuring that inventories for pharmaceutical and medical and surgical items are properly managed throughout the procurement, storage, delivery and payment process.

The completion of Phase 2 means that the PHA is now substantially less dependent on its aging, “at risk” systems for Finance and Supply Chain. The existing Keane system (which is not supported by its vendor) is no longer used for any Supply Chain functions and the existing Finance application, Masterpiece is primarily being used only for Fixed Assets on a temporary basis, as all General Ledger and Accounts Payable transactions are now being conducted on the new Infor CloudSuite Financial (CSF) Platform. The project plan calls for completion of the overall Finance component of IHIMS by June 30, 2020, with Phase 3 scheduled to go live on May 1, 2020 and Phase 4 on July 1, 2020.