Neville Lahiru
Following the recent COPE hearing regarding the drug shortage, it was revealed that the Ministry of Health’s Medical Supplies Division (MSD) had paid LKR 644 million for an inventory management software that took seven years to build and implement. It was further stated that the MSD pays LKR 5 million per month for maintenance. Since the reporting, EWIS has issued a public statement in response to the information presented at the COPE hearing.
The software in question is the MSMIS, of which the system was developed by EWIS based on Pronto Australia’s ERP. As per EWIS’s promotional video, its numerous functionalities include locating specific medicine at any given time as well as instant availability of information about issuing drugs, expired medicine, and hospitals short on certain medications. At the EWIS press conference, Chairman and CEO Sanjeewa Wickramanayake stated that the system was in development from 2008 to 2015, with its implementation followed by the next two years.
On the LKR 644 million cost and seven-year project timeline…
Speaking at the press conference Wickramanayake stated that the purchase order for the system back in 2008 was only LKR 223 million and that the software itself cost LKR 83 million. According to EWIS, the rest of the 223 million came down to hardware including generators, computers, UPS, networking costs, and others. “Hospitals need to be connected, communication should run 24/7 and this type of system cannot have a downtime,” mentioned Wickramanayake.
Addressing the seven-year timeline, EWIS claims that the project was a massive undertaking and that the team had to build all the necessary infrastructure. The company points out the seven years to challenges such as having to develop the system while the existing drug distribution process functioned and the need to train prospective users.
On the LKR 5 million monthly maintenance fee…
With regard to the 5 million monthly costs, EWIS says the actual figure is LKR 4.8 million per month and that it includes maintenance of hardware islandwide, maintenance of communication and connectivity across 86 hospitals 24/7, and software maintenance. The 4.8 million was attributed to the company after October 28, 2020, as per the agreement, says the Chairman.
Wickramanayake also notes that although the system received its acceptance in 2017, it was live from 2015 onwards. “We ran the software live for two years without charging a single cent […] and following receiving acceptance in October 2021, we’ve been maintaining the system to this day,” Wickramanayake mentioned further.
On the MSD system not working properly…
According to SPC officials, the existing system offers limited functionalities with regard to documenting certain procurement processes. As a solution, the SPC claims to have set up a monitoring division to oversee the procurement process. Although, according to ICTA Special Project Director Kanchana Thudugala, by 2017 the system had handled supplies worth about LKR 45 million. He even went on to call MSMIS a “killer application.”
In response to SPC’s comment on the system not catering to requirements, Wickramanayake points out that MSMIS was built for MSD and not the SPC itself. Further, in 2018, EWIS connected 68 hospitals to MSMIS and then connected further 62 hospitals a year later. The Chairman points out that if a system doesn’t work properly then there’s little reason to connect more hospitals to it over the years.
With regard to updating the system, the company states that there are certain things that should happen with systems over time, such as moving to a cloud-based solution. After all, the project began back in 2008 at a time when cloud solutions were a rarity. “By February 2022, we were asked to change the system accordingly and we’re doing that too,” says Wickramanayake.
On the LKR 7 billion upgrade price…
At the COPE hearing, MSD/SPC officials stated that in order to upgrade the system to cater to specific needs, the undertaking would cost LKR 7 billion. As per the officials, this figure was quoted in the report by the University of Colombo’s School of Computing, where they were tasked with assessing the existing system. Wickramanayake iterated that this cost analysis was done independently of his company’s involvement.
Interestingly, the officials at the hearing also stated that a new system is in development and is scheduled to be launched in three months, with a price tag of LKR 101 million. Wickramanayake claims there was a tender for a new system in January and that despite the situation, EWIS also made a bid for the new project. EWIS reportedly lost the bid and the winner’s purchase order was released “within 23 days” as Wickramanayake puts it.
Questions left unanswered
EWIS’s response against its allegations appears to fill in certain blanks. However, this raises further questions. For instance, how’s there a massive disparity of LKR 421 million between the price quoted by MSD at the COPE hearing and EWIS’s own claim? How did the University of Colombo quote an LKR 7 billion system upgrade without involving the vendor?
Furthermore, the system’s 2019 launch ceremony clearly shows a lot of enthusiasm around MSMIS’s implementation, particularly from the medical community. Thereby, claims of system issues by SPC and MSD raise a few eyebrows. Then there’s the new system in development. Considering the alleged history with the existing system, there are questions on what checks and balances are in place to guarantee the new system will fare any better. Meanwhile, the MSD reaffirmed the figures it shared at the COPE hearing following EWIS’s statement
Nevertheless, the COPE has already requested MSD officials to submit a report on the development and the cost-related matters on EWIS’s system. Additionally, the committee has asked for MSD and SPC’s consent that the new system will fulfill all the requirements of every user. Although, following EWIS’s rebuttal time will tell how this may change.
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