Amazing Health Tech in Surprising Places: A Report from Azerbaijan

If you live in a large, industrialized Western country and you don’t travel much outside your own borders, you may believe that high tech health IT exists

If you live in a large, industrialized Western country and you don’t travel much outside your own borders, you may believe that high tech health IT exists only in countries like yours. If so, you’d be wrong. One of the most eye-opening things for me as I’ve traveled the world these past few years is discovering that hospitals in small countries in far off places often have health IT that is as good, and sometimes much better, than we have in the typical American or Western European hospital. Case in point, a report I just received from one of my Microsoft colleagues about a hospital in Azerbaijan.

The report concerns an IT modernization project at The Central Oil Workers Hospital located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Since 2010, this 80-bed hospital has been the site of a hospital information system project managed by Microsoft partner, Esim Software. Their OTOMATIP hospital management information system solution is now implemented and has been handed over to  the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, the hospital’s owner and operator.

Esim Software, with 24 years of experience under its belt, has become one of Turkey’s Leading software companies, specialized particularly in the healthcare sector. The company’s future oriented Microsoft .NET, Web-Based OTOMATIP Hospital Management and Information System is proving to be exactly the right solution for The Central Oil Workers Hospital in Baku and the 90,000 state oil employees and their families who are served by the hospital. 

The OTOMATIP system includes all of the departmental modules you might find in a contemporary hospital management and information system anywhere. It also includes a digital signage system that communicates with, educates, and entertains patients as they arrive at the hospital. A touch-based, web kiosk solution allows patients to make appointments and register for services without standing in line. A smart-card based, personal time and attendance solution keeps track of hospital staff. The clinical system’s user-friendly, GUI provides a standardized look and feel that makes the system easy to use. The interface is 100 percent written in the Azerbaijani  language and adapted to local customs andneeds. An RFID controlled patient identification system enables bedside availability of patient records and other information using touch-enabled, tablet PCs. There’s even a wireless nurse call system and patient emergency solution that is centrally monitored and logged. Built on a fully scalable and distributable web platform, the OTOMATIP integrated Siemens RIS/PACS system provides for delivery of medical images via the hospital intranet or public Internet. 

In essence, you’d find just about every modern ICT solution in this hospital in Baku, Azerbaijan, that you would find in a typical American hospital. In fact, you might find that many of the Health IT solutions in use are based on more contemporary IT architecture and technologies than you would find in many American hospitals.

I’d like to thank my colleague, Valentina Ion, and Esim CEO, Selahattin Esim, for providing information about the good work at The Central Oil Workers Hospital in Baku. And speaking of far off places, later this week I’ll be winging my way to Australia and New Zealand to speak at some health industry conferences and meet with my Microsoft colleagues, customers and partners. Perhaps I’ll see you there.