Armenian Society of Fellows
Digital health workgroup
intro meeting, February 15, 2023, 8 AM
members present:
- Vatche Sahakian PhD Professor of Physics, Harvey Mudd College
- Shant Shekherdimian MD, MPH pediatric surgeon, UCLA, Armenia Ministry of Health
- Tido von Shoen-Angerer MD pediatrics, Medecins Sans Frontiers
- Jerry Manoukian MD internal medicine, continuing medical education
Vatche opened the meeting explaining that Armenia is creating an initiative to digitalize information throughout many aspects of the government and economy, with anticipated inclusion of digital healthcare by summertime. Our purpose is to create a white paper or blueprint outlining current challenges and what is needed for this to take place. There will be government backing for this program, which is spearheaded by Mr Nerses Yeritsyan, former chair of the central bank.
ASOF will provide us with a dedicated folder on Google Drive, a dedicated zoo link and connections to other like-minded workers.
Shant continued the discussion with the following with Vatche's reply in italics:
- what are we looking for? Is it a general concept discussion, or does the Armenian government want strategy or are there specific aspects they want us to address? Are there documents that we can examine to get a clear idea of this?
They want an overall strategy. This is a statewide initiative, not just healthcare. There will be a division of the government, perhaps 20 or 25 people, each serving as managers for each area of digitalization. They need a strategy for connecting digital digital healthcare modalities to this system. - There are already efforts to create a digital health platform. Giorgi Chaltikian and Lernik Essayei (Armenian Association of Digital Health) have already done some work in this area and we should become familiar with what they have done.
Absolutely. - A successful digital transformation depends on good data. There is a group within Armenia called Data Point Armenia who is very excited about creating proper data collection. Kim Hekimian of Columbia University is also a good resource as she is serving as an advisor to the Ministry of Health.
We can invite whomever we want to work with us and/or nominate them to join ASOF. It is especially helpful to connect with people who are already on the ground in Armenia.
The role/quality of the primary care physician is important. We have a bank of Armenian physicians who have migrated to Europe and beyond, who are familiar with the healthcare system in Armenia. Familiarity with the healthcare structure, context and social setting is critical; improperly conducted telemedicine can in some cases worsen healthcare outcomes.
Armenia has a platform for electronic health records, ArMed, but it is not being properly used. Digital literacy of providers is lacking. Additionally, we need improved governance and leadership within healthcare to drive change within healthcare.
We need to create a vision of an overall digital strategy. Electronic medical records and m-Health may be part of it, but proper governance will be very important. There is a group in Armenia called SDG Innovation Lab which has interest in using data to change governance.
Our follow-up meeting is scheduled for March 6 at 9 pm Yerevan time.
Additional meetings may be set up between now and then for further discussion with Armenian Association of Digital Health and/or Nerses Yeritsyan.
Link to article describing Mr Yeritsyan's cooperation with Proud Engineers of Estonia