CHILE

Countries in the region are making progress to implement new digital technologies in their health systems. In Chile, the Health Ministry adopted Resolution 595, creating the Digital Health Department which aims to implement and manage the Digital Hospital and other Digital Health strategies in the country. Signed by the Chilean Minister of Health, Jaime Mañalich, the resolution mandates the Digital Health Department to unify all functions related to Information Technology tools (ICTs), and to facilitate the provision of remote health services with a range of actions in the areas of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.

The Colombian Senate has passed the text of a bill setting up the Single Electronic Medical Record (HCUE for its acronym in Spanish), which will now pass to the House of Representatives in the next few weeks. The bill aims to unify all citizens’ medical records in digital format, so that doctors could access these when treating patients wherever they are. 

It should be noted that the First Latin American Congress on Digital Health will be held in the Dominican Republic on November 15, where one of the priorities will be how to reinforce these measures and promote joint work at a regional level.