Improving the quality of primary health care and health services in Rwanda - Ubuzima Burambye (Long healthy life)

Ubuzima Burambye
> Rwanda

Kigali hospital network

The Ubuzima Burambye (Long Healthy Life) Program is supported by Enabel and implemented under management of Rwanda's Ministry of Health (MoH) in partnership with Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) and the City of Kigali (CoK). This program officially started in July 2015 and its implementation phase is scheduled to last 48 months. The general objective of this intervention is to "strengthen the quality of primary health care and health services in Rwanda".

To properly manage the complexity of health issues in the City of Kigali (CoK), intensified by the rapid population growth with fast urbanization, several strategies have been proposed. One of them, supported by UBUZIMA BURAMBYE (UB), is related to the development of a hospital network for the CoK in order to produce efficient, organized, rationalized and integrated health offer in an urban context. Integration of resources (human, logistics, etc.), better articulation between all actors, sharing harmonized health information, improving reference system, merging technically complex services can considerably improve health services efficacy, continuity of care, and reduce the costs and fragmentation with better efficiency.

In line with the national health policy, Kigali Hospital Network is mandated to “Promote complimentary between hospitals in their common production of qualitative, continuous and accessible and integrated healthcare to face the rapid evolution of the needs of the citizens in the city of Kigali who are increasing rapidly and face profound demographic and epidemiologic changes”

The development of the network concerns 11 Hospitals in CoK: 3 National referral hospitals, 3 public District Hospitals and 4 Private hospitals. The main strategic interventions that are currently supported by UB include:

  • Optimization of specialized and quality services delivery through regular exchange of experience/expertise, skills and information. In 2018, this includes 16 modules elaborated by specialists to be shared at district hospital level for medical staff;
  • Define the vision, strategies, mechanisms and the resources needed towards a sustainable Hospital Information Network program by digitalization. The draft strategy hereto is to be validated;
  • Improve the information sharing between hospitals in the city of Kigali through a web-based dashboard for the 11 health facilities. At this moment, the development of a plan to share real time information to improve the referral system (availability of beds, ambulance, specific medical specialities, specific diagnostic equipment, etc.) is ongoing;
  • Develop a tele-medicine system initially directed to tele diagnostic: this year, a "Picture Archiving and Communication System" (PACS) will be procured.
In a second phase, the set-up of a harmonized electronic patient file between network member facilities to keep a continuum of care and consistency in service delivery will be developed.

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