ASAIPA National Medical Awards 2019
On Friday the 8th of November, the Alliance of South African Independent Practitioners Associations (ASAIPA) held its second annual National Medical Awards 2019. In attendance were over 140 guests to recognise the outstanding achievements of South African independent practitioners in private practice. Sponsored by CIPLA, Healthbridge, PPS and Medici, the awards encompassed five categories, one of which was “Recognition for embracing digital solutions to achieve better patient and business outcomes.”
Six general practitioners from all over the country were chosen as recipients of the award, based on their use of cloud-based technology for clinical medicine and practice management. Healthbridge, a leading healthtech platform company, chose to be the main sponsor on this particular award category as it aligns strongly to their vision of creating solutions that fuel better healthcare outcomes. As a company, they are committed to providing private practitioners with the technology that enables them to deliver a high quality of care to their patients, as well as run their businesses more efficiently.
Dr Kim Bishop, a GP based in Kwa-Zulu Natal, who was one of the GPs recognised at the awards for her achievements using technology, has this to say: “Having my own practice is a dream come true. But we are not trained as businesspeople, we are trained as doctors. The ease of use and simplicity of Healthbridge’s solution has been the catalyst for my practice to flourish,” Another winner, Dr Rajendra Naidoo, a family practitioner from Gauteng, was quoted as saying: “Healthcare itself is evolving. Doctors need to be able to function outside of their practice, as well as offer better care within their practice. A user-friendly digital system is a key enabler to a quality health service.”
Also from Gauteng, Dr Theunis Pretorius has been in private practice for 47 years. On receiving his award, he commented: “There is no other way to run a profitable practice than to implement a user-friendly digital system that has been designed in line with clinicians’ typical workflow.”
While healthcare in South Africa makes strides towards using digital solutions in place of paper-based systems, other recipients of the category award demonstrated tangible improvements to their practice using technology.
Dr Christine Steyn was recognised for her use of cloud-based technology to optimise patient and practice management. Dr Francois Nieuwoudt and Dr Liza Prinsloo who run a multidisciplinary practice in the Western Cape were also awarded for better business outcomes using real-time technology.
“Moving to a paperless system doesn’t bear the same results as working with a system that has been designed with both clinical and financial capabilities that integrate seamlessly. Using Healthbridge’s technology we have eliminated the need for a separate accounts department and improved our profitability,” said Dr Nieuwoudt.
Executive Managing Director at Healthbridge, Luis da Silva, attended the ceremony to present the awards to all six winners and emphasised the importance of the awards to recognise the exemplary work primary healthcare practitioners are doing in this country. “We are very pleased to be able to recognise doctors who are forerunners in the use of technology to transform healthcare. The value of primary care practitioners can’t be underestimated, and we are dedicated to helping them improve their quality of care and practice management,” said Da Silva.
The other four ASAIPA National Medical Award categories included: Practitioners contributing to independent private practice; Organisations, groups or individuals enhancing the medical profession’s standing in the community; Young practitioner’s recognition and Achievement by colleagues in non-medical fields.
About Healthbridge
Healthbridge is an innovative leading healthtech platform company that fuels better healthcare outcomes. Founded in 1999 to transform healthcare, Healthbridge pioneered real-time claims processing in the early 2000s and has since become an industry leader in facilitating complex interactions and the constant flow of information between medical professionals, patients, medical aids and healthcare stakeholders.