Colloquium

Colloquium 2012 Detailed Session Plan

admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:49:59 +0000

Kaosar Afsana

admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 07:24:47 +0000

Kaosar Afsana has been working at BRAC in Bangladesh for over 19 years, currently, as the Associate Director Health. She is a Professor at James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh. Ms. Afsana is an MD with MPH in International Health from Harvard University and PhD in Public Health from Edith Cowan University, Australia. Currently, she is leading significant projects of BRAC on reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health and nutrition and m-Health in urban slums and rural districts of Bangladesh. Ms. Afsana authored two books, ‘Disciplining birth’ and ‘Discoursing birthing care’ and published articles in peer reviewed journals and books. She has been awarded with many prestigious awards including the Woman of Distinction Award 2011 by the NGO Committee of the Women Status, New York for her contribution to maternal health and women’s empowerment, Presidents’ Prize for the best thesis on Asian topic by Asian Studies Association of Australia and the 2003 University Research Medal and the Faculty Research Medal for the best PhD thesis. Ms. Afsana represents BRAC in many national and international organizations as a member.

Kazi I. Ahmed

admin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 07:23:12 +0000

Mr. Kazi I. Ahmed, MS, MBA, Founder President, CEO and Chairman of NuMedics Inc. of Portland, Oregon developed CliniPro, a tool for EMR plus Disease Management in 1993. This was in response to a request from his Physician who faced the dilemma of rising population of patients with Diabetes and lack of effective tools to manage the disease. In 1994, Mr. Ahmed raised $300,000 as capital from his friends and neighbors and launched NuMedics Inc. in Portland, Oregon. Today, this product is implemented across the US in approximately 400 clinical centers.
Since coming to the United States from Bangladesh in 1976, Kazi Ahmed has worked at a variety of high-tech and biotech companies, including AVI BioPharma, and earned a master’s degree in Business Administration at Portland State University. After being diagnosed with diabetes in 1993, Ahmed tapped into his software engineering background and developed a diabetes self-management program for his hand-held computer. The system, which he originally designed for personal use, soon evolved into two diabetes management software applications: www.DiabetesPartner.com and CliniPro®. His one-man operation quickly grew into a company called NuMedics, Inc., serving over 400 hospitals and clinics across the United States.
Mr. Ahmed, although a naturalized citizen of the US is a Bangladeshi by birth where he obtained his HSC from Notre Dame College and SSC from St. Gregory’s High School in Dhaka.

Sheikh Mohsinuddin

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:54:33 +0000

Senior Strategist, HP Software Division encompassing healthcare and patient record management software solution. He is a top-performing and results-driven business development and end-to-end supply chain management professional with a full knowledge in inventory management systems in hospitals network encompassing hospitals portfolio management , planning and optimization, strategic sourcing, logistics, total quality management, RFID-enabled product tracking, new product launch, best practices and strategic planning. Leverages extensive knowledge of tools and methodologies to drive corporate profitability. Executes cost-effective strategies to align critical internal processes with long-term business strategies. A goal-oriented business leader who influences strong market growth and revenue performance through his decade and a half work experience in organizations like Nokia, Texas Instruments, Compaq and 3M..

Colloquium Poster

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:19:42 +0000

Kimberly A. Rook

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:45:45 +0000

Kimberly Rook is a communication and marketing specialist with over 20 years of public and private sector experience. Recent achievements include the establishment of a cross-sectoral Bangladesh Communication Working Group for integrated knowledge management and exchange (KM/E), and social and behavior change communication (SBCC) in Bangladesh; technical assistance to the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and development of numerous health and SBCC strategies, implementation guides, materials and products, and capacity building plans in Bangladesh and India for family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), nutrition, and infectious disease. Ms. Rook currently works in Bangladesh where she is placed with the Directorate General of Family Planning’s Information, Education and Motivation (IEM) Unit, and works with other agencies of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, private partners, donors and NGOs. She is facilitating a process to develop a National Communication Implementation Framework integrating FP, MNCH and nutrition SBCC and leveraging information, communication and technology (ICT). She previously worked in Bangladesh developing demand generation and SBCC strategies, materials and activities, and led capacity building for influenza prevention, hygiene, and water and sanitation. In India Ms. Rook worked with the government, NGOs and other stakeholders developing SBCC strategies for FP/RH and MNCH. She contributed to the development of a communication strategy for urban FP/RH; and inventoried and assessed messages, delivery gaps and opportunities in FP/RH SBCC and advocacy. She also co-developed an SBCC capacity building program and field implementation guide for states and districts, strengthening capacity for coordinated, integrated, multi-channel communication in FP/RH and MNCH. Ms. Rook previously worked in FP/RH and NGO capacity building in Uganda, and HIV and NGO capacity building in South Africa and the U.S. Her private sector experience includes marketing and promotions management with a Fortune 500 technology company.

Dr. Ananya Raihan

admin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:14:51 +0000

Dr. Ananya Raihan is the Executive Director of D.Net (Development Research Network), a nonprofit that conducts research and runs action programmes for integration of ICTs in economic development process in Bangladesh and beyond its geographic boundary. Dr. Raihan is also the E-Governance Adviser to the Access to Information Programme at Prime Minister’s Office.

Dr Raihan’s research interests include access to information and knowledge, international trade, financial sector reform, corporate social responsibility, and small- and medium-enterprise development. He has consulted and conducted research projects for a range of national, regional, and global organizations, including the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, ICTSD, WTO-ITC, UNCTAD, IDRC, UNICEF, OXFAM, UNESCO and many other institutions at home and abroad.

A social entrepreneur, Dr Raihan developed the “Pallitathya Model” to improve access to knowledge and information among poor and marginalized communities. He also advanced the concept of “Benefit on Investment” (BOI) to understand and capture the sustainability dimension of public access to technology. Raihan was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2004 in recognition of his contribution as a social innovator in this field. He works for promoting the concept of social entrepreneurship to link bottom-of-the pyramid market with national and global market. His new concept “Infolady” opens employment opportunities to thousands of women in rural Bangladesh with the power of ICTs.

Dr. Raihan is a member of Editorial Board of the Journal of Community Informatics. Dr Raihan holds both a Masters and Ph.D. in Economics.

Mridul Chowdhury

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:00:55 +0000

Biography
Mridul Chowdhury is the CEO and Founder of mPower Health (formerly
ClickDiagnostics), a global social enterprise specializing in the use of
mobile technologies for innovative public health solutions. His innovations
in mHealth have been awarded the MIT 100K Business Competition in social
entrepreneurship, runner-up prize in USAID Global Development Award and Best
Telemedicine Innovation Award at the World Health Congress. mPower Health
currently operates in Bangladesh, India and Egypt.

Mridul has extensive experience in development consulting and technology
project management in developing countries. In Bangladesh, he has gained an
unique experience in working for all major stakeholders in development – the
government, NGO and donor – which gave him the training required to found
mPower Health. Mridul’s prior work experience include co-founding D.Net
, an NGO in Bangladesh that has earned international
recognition for its work on using information technologies for addressing
rural women’s health concerns. He has also worked as a Consultant for United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Planning in
Bangladesh in the area of using information technologies for improving
governance and enhancing quality of lives of citizens. During 2001-02, he
was a researcher at the Center for International Development at Harvard
University, in which capacity he was part of the team behind the first
Global IT Report jointly published by Harvard University and World Economic
Forum. He has traveled extensively to many developing countries for research
and consulting on IT and development issues. He is also a filmmaker, most
known for his film titled Deshantori.

Mridul completed an MPA/International Development from Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government as a Dean’s Fellow with full scholarship. He
has a BS degree with majors in Economics, Mathematics, and Political Science
and a minor in Computer Science from University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Ravi Gupta

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:58:54 +0000

Dr. Ravi Gupta is the CEO and Editor- in- Chief of eHealth magazine (www.ehealthonline.org), Asia’s first and only e-Health monthly magazine. Armed with a Ph. D. (Business Economics), Delhi University (1999-2004), he also holds double degree of M. Tech. in Civil Engineering (with Specialisation in Engineering Geology GIS from IIT, Kanpur (1993-1995) and M. Tech. in Applied Geophysics from IIT, Roorkee (1990-1993). He is also the General Secretary & Executive Director of Centre for Science, Development & Media Studies. He is currently heading a project funded by Rockefeller Foundation, to assess the need of developing a portal and magazine on eHealth for African countries. He is a member of strategy council of UN Global Alliance on ICT for Development (UN – GAID), an initiative of United Nations ICT Task Force. He was the Executive Director of Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) (www.globalknowledgepartnership.org) Secretariat, from May 2010 – April 2011. GKP is a multi-stakeholder agency of 115 member organisations from across the globe, operating in the field of ICT for development, consortium Member, Euro-India SPIRIT (http://www.euroindia-ict.org/), a European Union funded project on ICT Policy Research in Europe and India, December 2009–December 2011. He is also the chief editor to two other publications: eGov magazine (www.egovonline.net), Asia’s first and only e-Governance monthly magazine, digital LEARNING magazine (www.digitalLEARNING.in), Asia’s first niche and only magazine on ICT and Education. He is also involved in partnership development and project management with international organisations like The Swiss agency for development and Cooperation (SDC), The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), telecentre.org, GTZ. He has developed partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh for eASIA events, also, with the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India, Indira Gandhi National Open University, IGNOU, Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Session Topics: Colloquium 2012

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:40:18 +0000

View/Download Detailed Session Plan

Health Technologies for the Future

The technology sphere for the healthcare industry is changing rapidly. On
the one hand, new devices are allowing patients to monitor their health
conditions on their own; on the other hand, patients are increasingly able
to keep in touch with their healthcare providers through use of various
technologies. This session will discuss how the landscape of healthcare is
changing globally and what innovative technologies are coming out from
Bangladesh itself.

Communication Barriers in Accessing Healthcare

One of the primary challenges in accessing healthcare is inadequate and
expensive communication facilities, which force a large section of the
population to be deprived of quality healthcare. New technologies are
enabling patients to be cared for with remote instructions from doctors and
health administrators, thereby addressing the communication barriers to a
certain degree. This session will discuss the relevant emerging technologies
and innovative health-delivery processes that enable such remote patient
management.

Importance of Live Consultation in Telemedicine

A critical need in healthcare is for patients and doctors to communicate on
a regular basis, which often becomes hard or even impossible due to
financial reasons, or distance from the nearest health-facility. Emerging
technologies have enabled patients to interact with doctors through various
mechanisms such as mobile phones, web-conferencing, tele-conferencing etc.
This session will introduce the options available and cost-effectiveness for
the patients in using these options.

Patient Management Software Solution and Business Requirement

Development of software for the management of electronic medical records
and disease management of individual patients is a fundamental component
of a mature healthcare system, an area where Bangladesh has significant
scope for improvement. Some diseases and conditions can require a
lifetime of management. We have yeet to design software applications that
incorporate point-of-care data management tools, health analysis
features, and telemedicine capabilities to foster an environment to
empower patients to learn and implement self-care management
behaviors.The top hospitals in the country generally do not keep
individual medical records. Emerging software solutions have provided the
opportunity to digitize and share medical records – some of the local
software companies have also come forward with locally relevant
solutions. This session will discuss the evolution and use of these
software solutions from a global perspective and what health
organizations in Bangladesh can learn from those.

Public Private Partnership in eHealthcare Initiatives

Providing quality healthcare to every single citizen is not a task that the
government or the private sector can take on by operating alone. Over the
years, different innovative schemes for win-win collaboration between the
government and the private sector has evolved in the area of using ICTs in
healthcare, where different players take on different roles in the continuum
of care. This session will discuss those models, both in Bangladesh and
outside, and what more Bangladesh can learn from the global best practices.

Standardizing Health Data for New Service Design and Policy Making

As more and more health systems are getting developed, one critical and
growing need of the day is to ensure that these systems can exchange
information smoothly so that patients can be served with the utmost
efficiency in their continuum of care. Many developed countries have made
the mistake of creating isolated health information systems that do not
talk¹ to each other. As a result, there is a growing global and national
policy imperative to ensure that these mistakes are not repeated in the
developing world where health information systems are still at a relatively
nascent stage. This session will discuss successful global models of
standardization of health data and exchange, and what Bangladesh can learn
from those cases.

Business model for e-Health and m-Health

Ensuring quality healthcare for the disadvantaged section of the population
is a challenge when it comes to creating sustainable models that are not
fully dependent on donor funding. Innovative business models are required to
ensure that the poor can be served at minimal cost but maximum quality
possible. This session will discuss some innovative practices both in
Bangladesh and abroad, which can set the foundation for mature social
business models in the area of healthcare.

ICTs in Monitoring and Evaluation of Healthcare Services

In a typical healthcare delivery setting, there are several layers of
service providers, who need to be monitored regularly and evaluated
periodically to ensure the maximum quality of service at the lowest cost
possible. However, the process of monitoring and evaluation is a costly
affair, an area where ICTs are contributing significantly to bring costs
down and increase accountability. This session will discuss some models both
in Bangladesh and abroad, where ICTs are being successfully used for
effective M&E in healthcare.

Hospital Management System: Possibilities & Challenges

As more and more hospitals are growing in Bangladesh, hospital management
systems are becoming a critical need both from the perspective of quality
care to patients and also from the point of view of ensuring accountability.
Some Bangladeshi software companies are gearing up for this growing demand
from hospitals. Policy-makers are also considering policy issues around
ensuring accountability through effective hospital management systems. This
session will discuss issues of new trends in hospital management system and
also some policy issues that can ensure accountability in hospital care.