LAC Digital Health Network

Towards collaboration, dialogue, and the exchange of knowledge and experiences among the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean to advance the digital transformation in regional health

What is RACSEL?

The Latin American and Caribbean digital health network, hereinafter referred to as RACSEL, is an initiative of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) supported by the Inter-American Development Bank. It is established as a systematic horizontal technical cooperation mechanism through which exchanges are promoted, multiplied, strengthened, and energized, aimed at developing, disseminating, and implementing best practices in digital health to support institutional development processes and their progress in the region.

 

MISSION

 

To promote collaborative work and cooperation in the field of digital health, so that the good practices and results achieved in one country can be leveraged by others, resulting in increased efficiency and effectiveness. This, in turn, leads to an improvement in the quality of healthcare services and overall social growth and well-being.

 

 

VISION

To be one of the main global networks of cooperation in electronic and digital health, and a reference in the dissemination, promotion, and adoption of standards, through dialogue, coordination, and the exchange of knowledge and experience

News

24 de marzo de 2022

 

LACPass: The benefits of interoperability for citizens of the region when crossing borders

 

 

The project brings together countries from Latin America and the Caribbean and is committed to the availability of health data across borders in the region, making it possible to validate COVID-19 digital certificates between different countries following international interoperability standards.

 

LACPass is a multi-country initiative developed by RACSEL (American Network for Cooperation on Electronic Health) and the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), which aims to create bridges towards health care for all people in the Latin American region and the Caribbean. The collaboration between the participating countries demonstrates that interoperability in digital health is possible, safe and effective.

 

RACSEL is a collaboration network to advance the regional digital transformation that follows the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the digital documentation of COVID-19 (DDCC) and the strategic plans of PAHO in the Americas, specifically the sheet of route approved by the countries of the region in September 2021.

 

LACPass has the following strategic partners: PAHO (Pan American Health Organization), HL7 (Health Level 7) and LACChain (Global Alliance for the development of blockchain in Latin America and the Caribbean), in addition to the support of IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) and CENS (National Center for Health Information Systems) in its role as organizer.

 

The initiative has the participation of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay. These countries, and those that will join in the future, come together in a comprehensive digital transformation strategy to improve regional public health, eliminating barriers and creating bridges for the exchange of clinical data between countries.

 

The exchange of health information within and between the countries of the region includes clinical care, epidemiological surveillance and public health data at the regional level. In addition, it wishes to promote the creation of guidelines and directives for the sustainable development of telehealth within and among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

Currently, the National Center for Health Information Systems (CENS), the executing entity of the project, and the American Network for Cooperation on Electronic Health (RACSEL) are working on a proof of concept that will demonstrate that it is possible to verify the medical data of people who cross borders in the region safely. The foregoing, after a year of technical assistance and collaboration that made it possible to guarantee that COVID-19 digital certificates comply with international interoperability standards. Thus, a certificate generated by one of the participating countries may be verified in any other.

 

Interoperability between digital certificates would make it possible for states to immediately authenticate citizens' COVID-19 vaccination, results, or recovery information at the time of border crossing. Thus, when preparing a COVID-19 digital certificate, the issuing country will include a QR code that will allow cross-validation of the information and guarantee its authenticity by the receiving country. Access to medical data between countries will only include essential information, protecting citizens.

 

Asked about the initiative and its operation, the international expert in health informatics standards, Fernando Portila, comments that each “document will have a QR code that will have international validity. If a person will travel from Colombia to Chile, the local code of her country will not work in the other. That is why we seek that the QRs of the region are valid between countries. We want the countries to have the skills to make this a reality.”

 

Meanwhile, the president of the Academic Committee of CENS, Steffen Härtel, assures that “the objectives are well defined in the project. Always framed in the dynamics we are currently experiencing due to the pandemic. Our main objective is that each person who crosses a border can have their health history data in their digital backpack. The goal of the LACPass project is to optimize health care for all of us who cross borders in the most timely manner possible.”