PNG Health System Moves Towards Digital Records With Australian Support

Papua New Guinea is moving towards a modern digital health information system with support from Australia, following the introduction of OpenELIS Global, a platform designed to improve the management of laboratory records and patient information nationwide.

The new system is expected to replace traditional paper-based processes with an integrated digital network, allowing health workers to access laboratory results more efficiently and strengthen the delivery of medical services across the country.

 PNG Health System Moves Towards Digital Records With Australian Support/Photo by Australian High Commission PNG

Australian High Commission Minister-Counsellor Madeleine Moss said the initiative was an important development in strengthening PNG’s health infrastructure and improving diagnostic services.

She said reliable laboratory information would help clinicians make faster decisions and ensure resources were directed to communities where they were most needed.

“Together, Australia and PNG are building secure, reliable laboratory systems that will protect and serve communities right across the nation,” she said.

OpenELIS Global will serve as the country’s Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), improving the collection, storage, reporting and sharing of laboratory information.

Executive Manager for Disease Control, Health Security and Surveillance Division, Dr Pilly Mapira said the platform was laying the groundwork for a connected national health network.

“We are laying the foundation of a national, integrated digital health network that will ultimately connect medical and public health laboratories across every single province of this country,” Dr Mapira said.

She said the system had been developed to meet PNG’s specific medical testing requirements and would be operated by local health personnel.

“This is a system built with Papua New Guinea, configured to our specific clinical testing needs, and managed entirely by our local workforce,” she added.

PNG continues to face major public health challenges, including malaria, HIV, drug-resistant tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance.

Previously, laboratory information was largely maintained through paper records and individual spreadsheets, making it difficult to access data quickly and use it effectively for treatment and disease surveillance.

The new platform will allow laboratory samples to be digitally monitored from their arrival at testing facilities through to the delivery of results to clinicians.

The system will cover six sections of the Central Public Health Laboratory, including HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, sero-surveillance, microbiology and molecular biology.

It will also connect with automated laboratory equipment, enabling test results to be transferred electronically and reducing the need for manual data entry.

Central Public Health Laboratory director of laboratory services Willie Porau said the system was developed through months of testing, training and adjustments by laboratory staff.

“What began as a small proof-of-concept pilot has grown, section by section, into the system we are launching today. Our staff undertook user acceptance testing and training. They raised issues when things did not work as they should, and they kept raising them until those issues were resolved. That persistence, from a team who already carry a full daily workload, is the real foundation of this system,” he said.

Mr Porau said the project had been developed through close cooperation with laboratory personnel.

“This has been a genuine partnership, built on the floor of this laboratory,” he added.