To mark the inauguration of the Dematerialization and Integration of Health Information Systems project in the Prison and Reintegration Services, which will have the Monsanto EP as its pilot, the Assistant Secretary of State for Justice, Maria Clara Figueiredo, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Health, Ana Povo, will participate in a ceremony scheduled for Tuesday in the building opposite that prison in Lisbon.

A pilot project will be carried out in the Monsanto prison, with the introduction of "SClinico Primary Health Care". The project represents another phase in the process of integrating health services provided in a prison context into the NHS.

"The dematerialization of inmates' health information will allow for integration and sharing between health services in the Prison and Reintegration Services and the NHS," said the Ministry supervised by Minister Rita Alarcão Júdice.

On that occasion, the project will be presented by the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP) and the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health.

This initiative comes after a protocol was signed in July 2017 between the DGRSP and the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS) aimed at regulating collaboration and coordination between the DGRSP and the SPMS, within the scope of their attributions, for accessing and sharing information through the NHS's computer systems by the respective prison establishments, from the moment the inmate is admitted into the prison system until their release.

The protocol stipulated a duality in accessing the inmate's clinical information, with no interruption in the flow of this information during imprisonment, allowing for the existence of a single clinical record through the implementation of health information systems in the DGRSP, leading to its dematerialization and, on the other hand, to the operationalization of teleconsultations.

The latter, teleconsultations, was implemented in July 2022 with the first teleconsultation, based on the Technical Model Agreement for Telehealth Services signed in December 2021 between the aforementioned entities.

To implement this protocol, the DGRSP made a significant investment in acquiring new computer equipment, essential to enable this transition from paper to digital.

The project has the Monsanto EP as its pilot, but the intention is to extend it, in a phased manner, to all other clinical units or services of prison establishments and educational centers.

For those responsible for the project, dematerialization and the implementation of information systems bring benefits to users, health professionals, and the efficiency of the health system as a whole, namely by ensuring continuity of care, before and after imprisonment, and in transfers between the organic units of the DGRSP, without loss of information.

It will also allow for improving the quality of care, with standardized procedures, easily accessible information, allowing health professionals to make more precise and informed decisions, resulting in more effective diagnoses and treatments, along with efficiency and economy of resources, since the time spent on administrative tasks searching for information is significantly reduced and, on the other hand, it avoids duplication of complementary diagnostic tests and eliminates paper.

The measure also aims to facilitate communication and collaboration between different health professionals, promoting a collaborative approach to patient care and better data monitoring and analysis, seeking to achieve a more efficient and safe health system.

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