Amia's Global Partnership Program to Build Ehealth Capacity in Low Resource Countries

Shortcomings in the HICT systems of low resource countries limit the availability of reliable clinical data for diagnosis, treatment, health care management, and public health. AMIA’s Global Partnership Program (GPP) aims to educate a new generation of leaders in low resource countries to build regional eHealth capacity. Institutional partnerships will create synergies between academic institutions with leading informatics programs in the U.S. and other developed nations, and institutions in low resource countries with a demonstrated need, interest, and supporting infrastructure to successfully implement and maintain eHealth systems. Activities will include bidirectional movement of Fellows and local EHR implementation team members, and faculty mentors and trainers, to build collaborative relationships between partnering higher education stakeholders, mobilize support from decision makers and beneficiaries, and facilitate organizational change. Development of an integrated network of dedicated partnership institutions will support diffusion of innovation and avoid dependency on external aid and expertise. Program goals include training and support of an indigenous health informatics workforce, and expanded knowledge and understanding of the necessary processes and the barriers related to the diffusion of technological innovations in a hospital and/or clinic setting in low resource countries. We anticipate that there will be valuable “lessons learned” in training and education for capacity building and managing high-quality, low-cost health care in low resource countries. Expected outcomes include increased adoption and widespread use of EHR systems and related/supporting technologies in low resource settings, core courses and competencies for an extensive curriculum to serve initial and continuing education of a wide range of persons implementing and using EHR, a cadre of innovative leaders and trainers in HICT and informatics research and practice, and leadership continuity in the introduction and implementation of EHR systems through an expanding pool of highly trained informaticians linked by the integrated network built by GPP partners.