Postgraduate Institute of Medicine University of Colombo

B. Building Capacity for Planning and Streamlining eHealth Activities
It is recommended that the Health Information Unit of the Ministry of Health be the focal
point for all eHealth activities in Sri Lanka. This Unit could function as the central
coordinating and driving point for eHealth activities in the Ministry of Health/Department of
Health Services. This is not a task however, that can be undertaken by the Health Information
Unit alone. This gives rise to the need for an expanded structure representing all key state
sectors healthcare institutions and administrative units.
Overview of the proposed structure for Building Capacity for Planning and Streamlining
eHealth Activities
C. An Architectural Model for the National Health Information System
Several health institutions have already begun using IT solutions. However due to the
absence of a national health information system architecture those systems lack the overall
information integrity, central co-ordination and information interoperability. Therefore the
need for a high level electronic health information system architecture was identified to
overcome the above mentioned problems and also to cater to the increasing demand for
electronically accessible services in the health domain.
Using principles of enterprise architecture the existing health information system was
analyzed with regards to the organizational, administrative, and functional structures taking
in to consideration the perceptions of stakeholders and their needs. The architectural models
of health information systems in different countries were also analyzed and a common set of
features were identified.
An architectural model for the national health information system was derived in the context
of the Sri Lankan health domain to achieve an efficient, interoperable, secure, reliable,
accessible and maintainable health information system.
The proposed national electronic health information system architecture is composed of the
eHealth system, stakeholders and the communication network. The identified services in the
health domain are expected to be provided by one or more sub-systems. The national eHealth
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