Kuala Belait - The implementation of Brunei Darussalam's Health Information Management System (Bru-HIMS) at the Suri Seri Begawan Hospital (SSBH) in Kuala Belait was reviewed in a visit by Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Adanan bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Mohd Yusof, the Minister of Health.

Bru-HIMS was first used at the Suri Seri Begawan Hospital earlier this year and is currently in the second phase. Bru-HIMS has been used at the in-patient area, medical ward, laboratory, pharmacy and x-ray.

Bru-HIMS integrates patients' information management systems in medical services and health. With the Bru-HIMS project, the effectiveness and efficiency of patient-handling process will be enhanced to provide the best medical care.

The minister was briefed on the progress and implementation of Bru-HIMS and was brought to visit the In-Patient Registration Centre, Medical Wards, Laboratories, Pharmacy, Radiology Department, Medical Records Department and the Training and Development Centre building that is still under construction.

A staff at Sun Seri Begawan Hospital said Bru-HIMS Information Counter holds the role of disseminating information on Bru-HIMS to the public and also as a centre to collect the Bru-HIMS medical appointment card for patients that have already registered with Bru-HIMS. In-Patient Registration Centre was introduced to overcome the problem faced in the wards and it helps in the process of monitoring the patients being admitted into the ward.

Whereas at the laboratories, Bru-HIMS is used together with the surgical ward services where all applications for laboratory tests can be retrieved through Bru-HIMS following the procedure. The use of Bru-HIMS in laboratories cuts time in receiving the laboratory results and lessens the use of papers.

At the pharmacy, implementation of BruHIMS is running smoothly where the system can be connected to all wards and medication needs can be channelled or supplied by medical officers to the pharmacy.

As for the Radiology Department, the Clinical Help of Radiology Department can harness Bru-HIMS especially in getting the reports from radiology experts online.

Medical Records Department has not used Bru-HIMS wholly but they have implemented pre-registration proactively by organizing registry campaigns in government offices and schools to increase the total number of registrations, which currently stands at 7,000.

In the near future, this department will use the semi-Bru-HIMS, where two counters will be made available: Bru-HIMS Counter and Normal Counter.

Also present from the ministry were Hjh Siti Mariam binti Haji Mohd Jaafar, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance Department); Dr Hjh Norlila binti Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Jalil, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Professional and Technical Department) as well as Mohammaad bin Haji Abd Hamid, CEO of Sufi Seri Begawan Hospital; head of directors and senior officers at the Ministry of Health and Suri Seri Begawan Hospital.