London, United Kingdom – 6 March, 2019 – The Turkish Ministry of Health and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) – a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to reform the global health ecosystem by leveraging the power of information and technology – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to extend the use of HIMSS’ maturity models across all healthcare provider models in the country. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Dr. Şuayip Birinci, Deputy Minister of Health in Turkey and Hal Wolf III, President and CEO of HIMSS and will run from 2019 until 2024.
The MoU sets out a five-year long commitment to employ seven HIMSS Analytics maturity models across Turkey's extensive network of public hospitals and healthcare systems. One of these, the well known Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM), measures the level of adoption and utilization of electronic medical record (EMR) functions in hospitals.
The MoH also reiterated its commitment to an annual HIMSS Eurasia event bringing together health ministries and health systems from across central Asia - and agreed to be Patron of the HIMSS Turkish Community which is currently being established with representation on HIMSS’ Community Advisory Board - in the MoU, signed on 14 February at the event.
“We are very proud of what we have achieved with the digital transformation of our hospitals in recent years,” said Dr. Şuayip Birinci, Deputy Minister of Health in Turkey. "This agreement reinforces our commitment to digitizing our hospitals using HIMSS’ maturity models, which are in our eyes second-to-none across the world.”
“HIMSS and the Ministry of Health have worked closely through the years in the vision and execution of the Republic of Turkey’s digital transformation. We are privileged to continue our relationship as HIMSS values the unprecedented achievements of Turkey’s public hospitals” said Hal Wolf III, President and CEO of HIMSS. “We look forward to expanding our support of their strategies to bring outstanding health to their citizens and many in their surrounding sphere of influence.”
More than 150 of these hospitals achieved the Stage 6 level in one year (2017), with one of the country’s hospitals, Tire Public Hospital in Izmir City, being validated at Stage 7, becoming only the fourth hospital in Europe to achieve this accolade. These developments were part of the Turkish Ministry of Health’s 2013-2017 strategic plans to increase the quality and efficacy of service delivery through information and technology.
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Editor’s notes
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HIMSS is a global advisor and thought leader supporting the transformation of health through information and technology. As a mission driven non-profit, HIMSS offers a unique depth and breadth of expertise in health innovation, public policy, workforce development, research and analytics to advise global leaders, stakeholders and influencers on best practices in health information and technology. Through our innovation companies, HIMSS delivers key insights, education and engaging events to healthcare providers, governments and market suppliers, ensuring they have the right information at the point of decision. As an association, HIMSS encompasses more than 72,000 individual members and 630 corporate members. We partner with hundreds of providers, academic institutions and health services organizations on strategic initiatives that leverage innovative information and technology. Together, we work to improve health, access and the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, HIMSS serves the global health information and technology communities with focused operations across North America, Europe, United Kingdom, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.www.himss.org