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About the Authors:
Joaquín A. Blaya
Affiliations Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, eHealth Systems, Santiago, Chile
Sonya S. Shin
Affiliation: Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Martin Yagui
Affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Salud, Lima, Peru
Carmen Contreras
Affiliation: Socios en Salud Sucursal Peru, Lima, Peru
Peter Cegielski
Affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Gloria Yale
Affiliation: DISA V Lima Ciudad, Lima, Peru
Carmen Suarez
Affiliation: DISA IV Lima Este, Lima, Peru
Luis Asencios
Affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Salud, Lima, Peru
Jaime Bayona
Affiliation: Socios en Salud Sucursal Peru, Lima, Peru
Jihoon Kim
Affiliation: Division of Biomedical Informatics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
Hamish S. F. Fraser
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliations Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Partners In Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
Introduction
Diagnosis and management of many diseases requires prompt, reliable access to laboratory investigations. Delayed, inaccurate or lost data can put patients at risk and lead to increased costs through duplicate testing [1] and late stage management of disease. This is particularly important in infectious diseases where untreated patients can pose a risk to family and community. Studies in developed countries have shown that laboratory information systems can improve timeliness and quality of laboratory data [2] and the timeliness of clinical responses [3], [4], however, none have shown impact on patient outcomes. Health systems in developing countries with limited infrastructure are particularly vulnerable to deficiencies in all stages of laboratory testing from sending and tracking samples, to ensuring accuracy of results, to getting results back to the clinician [5].
Multi drug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is an increasingly common, dangerous and highly infectious disease where diagnosis and management is critically dependent on laboratory testing. In 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria planned to expand the number of patients on drug resistant tuberculosis treatment annually from 30,000 to 450,000 by 2015. This expansion will require over US$15 billion. Effective information systems will be essential to...