Events

SCG Meeting

1.First Stakeholder Consultation Group(SCG) Meeting

The first stakeholder meeting for the Digipaths project was held on November 8-9, 2024, at Renuka City Hotel, Colombo. It was facilitated by the project lead, country leads, and two facilitators. The meeting engaged 36 stakeholders from diverse fields, using interactive techniques such as storyboarding and the nominal group method to foster active participation. Key facilitators identified included the stakeholders’ varied expertise and the ongoing implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. However, challenges such as power imbalances, technological limitations, and economic constraints were highlighted. To address these, stakeholders proposed strategies like capacity building, stakeholder mapping, and strengthening collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

2. 2^ndStakeholder Consultation Group(SCG) Meeting

The 2nd Stakeholder Consultation Group (SCG) meeting for the DIGIPATHS project (WP 2.2) was held on 31 May 2025 at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, engaging 20 multidisciplinary participants in a hybrid, six-hour session. Using the Nominal Group Technique (NGT), stakeholders reviewed and ranked clinical recommendations for diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and ischemic heart disease, supported by translations in Sinhala and Tamil. nalysis using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability showed strong support for high-risk screening and lifestyle modification, alongside concerns about costs, resource limitations, unclear referral thresholds, and screening intervals. Two recommendations received lower acceptability. The meeting generated actionable insights to strengthen digital care pathway implementation in primary care.

Annual Meeting

Steering Toward a Digitally Empowered Health Future – DIGIPATHS Annual Meeting 2025

The annual meeting was held on 31st July 2025 at Onyx Conference Hall, Hilton Colombo, Sri Lanka

The DIGIPATHS Annual Meeting 2025 brought together experts, collaborators, and stakeholders for a full-day session focused on advancing digital health in Sri Lanka.

Held with great enthusiasm, the meeting began with opening remarks from Prof. Krish Nirantharakumar, followed by a comprehensive project update from Prof. Kumaran, covering progress across work packages, capacity building, and future plans.

Highlights included:

Emeritus Prof. Jeremy Wyatt on integrating digital tech into primary care and the life-saving potential of well-designed Electronic Patient Records (EPRs)

Dr. Palitha Karunappema on the broader digital health landscape and the development of the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR)

Prof. Vajira Dissanayaka on scalability and Sri Lanka’s evolving eHealth ecosystem

Prof. Madawa Chandratilake on capacity building for future health professionals

Prof. R. Surenthirakumaran on strategic aspirations for global recognition

Work Package Updates:

WP1: Community engagement and Stakeholder involvement

WP2.1 & WP2.2: Pathway evaluations and guideline development for chronic diseases WP3: Implementation of OpenMRS, Clinical Decision Support Systems, Dexter, and patient apps

WP4 & WP5: Feasibility studies and adoption strategies

The day concluded with interactive group discussions, tackling challenges and shaping the next phase of DIGIPATHS.

The meeting reaffirmed DIGIPATHS’ commitment to building a digitally enabled, data-driven health system for Sri Lanka. With strong collaboration and clear strategies, the future of healthcare is looking brighter than ever!

Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) Meeting

1.Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) Meeting – Batticaloa

An in-person Community Involvement and Engagement (CIE) session for the DIGIPATHS project was held on 12 May 2025 at the Holistic Care Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Eastern University, with 40 participants including community healthcare workers, primary care doctors, patients, and their relatives. Facilitated by Dr. N. Shobana and Dr. S. Kumaran, the session introduced the DIGIPATHS initiative, which aims to develop a Digitally Integrated Care Pathway (DICP) using electronic patient records (e.g., OpenMRS) to improve the management of multiple long-term conditions such as diabetes and hypertension in Sri Lanka. Emphasizing co-design, the project positions community members as equal partners whose lived experiences inform the design, implementation, and scalability of standardized, patient-centred digital care pathways.

The session engaged participants in structured group activities to share experiences with existing guidelines, identify strengths and gaps in primary care, and prioritize feasible improvements. Using silent idea generation, round-robin sharing, clarification, and group voting, participants collaboratively reviewed diabetes and hypertension guidelines, leading to constructive dialogue and shared learning despite occasional differences in viewpoints. Feedback indicated high satisfaction, improved understanding of guidelines, and appreciation for inclusive decision-making. Key follow-ups include organizing NCD screening programs at the Holistic Care Centre and planning the next CIE meeting in at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

2.Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) Meeting – Sabaragamuwa

Exploring the Acceptability of Introducing Electronic Health Records (EHR) Among Patients with Multiple Long-Term Conditions in Primary care

The CEI meeting was held on 2^nd of Nov 2025 at CEI 2Board room, Faculty of Medicine, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

Community representatives, Community connectors, caretakers, family members and patients from north, east, west, southern, north-central and central regions of Sri Lanka were invited for the discussion. Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) provides a rigorous, multi-dimensional structure to systematically investigate the complex perceptions of target group. Integrating this framework with the specific context operationalized with seven core constructs. This was selected to study the objective. Overall introduction was given by the work package lead and other primary care doctors as dramatic performance followed by stimulation activates conducted by CEI coordinator.

Demonstration of Electronic Health Record (EHR) was demonstrated to the participants and it was opened for focus group discussion in Tamil and Sinhala languages separately according to the participants convenience. It was lasted for one hour and 30 minutes. The session was concluded with thanking note.

CEI activities

Overall aim of CEI for this project is to obtain the valuable perspectives of members of the local community to inform and foster the coproduction of the research work.

1.Activities in Jaffna, Nothern Province