IT Solution to Change Mexico's Healthcare System

Q: What needs has INDRA identified in the Mexican healthcare system? What solutions has INDRA developed to address them?

A: We work in the Mexican healthcare sector with a single concept: continuity of care. This continuity consists of reaching a permanent flow of information between the different levels of attention, which is a basic requirement for the system to improve. To achieve this goal, INDRA Healthcare offers strategic health consulting, an electronic health record system and a patient relation platform (PRM), among other solutions. Our medical record system is designed for hospital and primary care net areas, since it integrates in real time the primary, second and third level of care so that all professionals can share the same information. The PRM is a multichannel platform in which citizens access preventive, administrative or clinical services providing home access to care.

Q: What is INDRA’s added value?

A: Our solutions in electronic health record and patient management platforms are inter operable. Therefore, anything an institution or network has done before or does after with other providers will always be in communication with our applications. We have the three care levels connected with the same EHR and we have broad experience in assistive networks. We have a lot of international experience, and believe we must adapt our IT solutions to the country to provide tailor made solutions.

Q: What are the main INDRA markets in Mexico, private or public institutions?

A: In Mexico, both the public and private sectors have developed in-house solutions for electronic health records. From a legal standpoint, there is good legislation in the country that requires institutions to adopt electronic records. NOM-24 demands medical records from every institution and asks for compliance in certain areas. However, there is resistance to spending money on technologies when institutions are struggling with other needs. Decisionmakers, general managers as well as medical teams usually have other priorities.

Q: How do you evaluate the digitalization of healthcare in Mexico compared to other similar economies?

A: Brazil has similar problems to Mexico. It also has a regulatory framework but there is no complete digitalization experience. It is the only country in Latin America that has free and public medical care, albeit with investment problems. Chile has a program for digitalization of its hospital network, but investment has been paralyzed for three years. The key is to work on separate government agreements. In Spain, it took 20 years to digitalize the system and around 60 percent of the population has an electronic health record.

Q: Who develops the technology used by INDRA?

A: All the technology regarding the core of HER, PRM and other systems is developed in-house. We do have areas in which we work with other developers that have their own programs. On dependence of client’s needs, we connect to the client’s solutions and if there is not an existing one previously, we find it or develop it for them.

Q: What are INDRA’s plans for the future?

A: We want to work more with the Mexican states because they have clinics and hospital networks where we can implement health records. Continuity of care is essential for patients, so they can move around the country and find their information available in any institution. In addition, it is good for doctors because they will have all the background data and will not need to repeat tests. Another priority for us is the appointment management systems, through which it is possible to program the patient’s medication using electronic prescription. In this way, especially chronic patients do not have to go every week to look for a prescription and doctors may have more time to help other patients. Digitalization can bring control, security and economic efficiency.