By Fiona Benson
A US-Based Liberian Educator and Scientist, Dr. John T. Wulu, Jr. has presented a comprehensive data governance framework to the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Wulu has meanwhile, called on the health authorities to transition from paper-based and fragmented digital records to a unified Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system.
He said such a move would greatly improve patient care, planning, and decision-making in the healthcare system.
Dr. Wulu said data governance plays a crucial role by ensuring that health data are accurate, secure, accessible, and used ethically.
“There are constraints in the public sector, including limited budgets, infrastructure, and workforce, which required a governance approach that is tailored to the realities of public hospitals and clinics.
Wulu made the observation when he presented on the titled: “The Development and Implementation of Data Governance and Standards in the Office of Immigration Statistics of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.” Dr. Wulu said accurate data can ensures quality of systems and business processes, enabling business requirements to be met with data integrity.
He added that accuracy is also fundamental to achieve Return on Investment (RoI) for project investments, ensuring that data-driven decisions benefit the entire enterprise, not just individual departments or platforms, while maintaining a single version of the truth for data objects.
He added that Data Governance and Data Management are critical sustainment processes, not one-time initiatives, but by definitions, values, and standards, should remain constant across the enterprise.
Dr. Wulu further informed the gathering that Data Governance should be driven by desired business outcomes, focusing on areas that would benefit most, and address known pain points.
Dr. Wulu also recommended efforts to standardize data definitions, formats, and workflows in the healthcare facilities; improve data quality and timeliness for reporting and public health surveillance enables safe data sharing and interoperability with national and regional systems.
He made the observation recently when he was invited by the Deputy Minister for Health Services, Dr. Benedict B. Kolee.
In her welcome remark, Deputy Health Minister Malayah Tamba Chieyo, expressed appreciation for Dr. Wulu’s willingness to attend on short notice and share valuable expertise with MoH officials and staff.