LUTH Harps On Unity Among Professionals

The Chief Medical Direc
tor, Prof. Chris Bode, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, has called for synergy and respect among medical professionals for them to achieve quality healthcare delivery.
Bode made the call at the 2015/2016 Matriculation of the LUTH School of Health Information Management in Lagos.
Our correspondent reports that 81 students including 34 National Diploma students and 47 Higher Diploma students of the school participated in the ceremony.
While commending the matriculating students on a career choice in Health Information Management, Bode maintained that no one was greater than the other in the medical profession.
“Everybody is important in the healthcare team, and unless we can work together as a team, we will be disbanded.
“It is important for you to learn how to work together by doing your best and respecting others in the healthcare team.
“Health Information Management (HIM) is an essential part of the healthcare team and no one is greater.
“If you do your work well, you do not need to tell others you are superior.
“The aim is for all of us to achieve a system of healthcare that will benefit Nigerians,” he said.
Bode said that the mission of the HIM had remained elevating the standards of clinical record-keeping in hospitals and other healthcare facilities adding that the profession has been concerned with effective management of clinical data and health records to ensure data confidentiality, integrity and availability in every type of healthcare setting.
He said: “HIM professionals serve the healthcare industry and the public by managing, analysing and utilising the information vital for patient care and making it accessible to healthcare managers for planning.”
Also speaking, the school’s Principal, Mr Taiwo Olofinluyi, identified the low level of awareness about the profession and slow pace of development as challenges facing the profession.
Olofinluyi said, “Because HIM came newly as a specialisation in medicine, it has not actually been embraced like any other fields of medicine.
“Also, the job is available, but many employers are not aware of the need to have health information managers.
“But, we now have an association which promotes the awareness and few employers are now seeing the need for it.”
The principal noted that since the school’s inception in 1980, it had graduated no fewer than 1,000 students adding that with the review of the programme in 2,000, the school began to run programmes for National and Higher Diplomas.