A Digital Patchwork Set for Unification
The Canary Islands’ health service currently uses as many different software systems to manage patient information as it has Health Management Areas. This alphabet soup of acronyms – Drago-AP, Drago-AE, and SAP – is something the region aspires to begin leaving behind within the next two years. The creation of a single, unified clinical history – a long-standing demand from patients, families, and healthcare professionals alike – is now a stated “priority” for the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS).
Leadership Commitment Amid Challenges
This has been firmly stated by its director, Adasat Goya, who nevertheless concedes the process will not be easy. “We are dedicating significant resources. It won’t be finished in the short term, but we are progressing at a good pace so that in the medium term we can start to see results,” he stated. Last year, the health department set that medium-term goal at two years, meaning this recurrent demand should start to become a reality in 2027, before the end of the current political term.
The Current Incompatible Systems
Today, each hospital or Primary Care management area records patient treatments, consultations, and illnesses – their clinical history information – using different software. In theory, all hospitals should use Drago-AE and all health centres should use Drago-AP. The only exception would be the University Hospital of the Canary Islands (HUC), which, due to its later integration into the SCS in 2009, maintains its own separate system (SAP). In practice, however, things are not so straightforward. The tools used by the other Health Management Areas are also incompatible with each other because “they have developed their own versions.”
“Each one has its own IT team, its subcontracted company, and develops its own tool,” Goya explains.
Pioneering a Common Platform
The Canary Islands is not the only Spanish region in this situation, but it is one of the first to make strides in creating a common platform. “Other regions are looking at our viewer because they have the same problem we do, and they see the viewer as an initial tool to begin the change,” says Goya. The SCS director is referring to the Unified Clinical History Viewer launched in March 2025, which allows professionals to access their patients’ health information regardless of which health area they belong to.
“The viewer has laid the groundwork,” he states. “It creates communication channels to each of the existing software systems and draws data from all these databases. Now we just have to create new connection pathways.” Despite this, professionals still cannot currently modify the clinical histories of patients from outside their own health area.
Major Investment for a Healthcare Leap
The regional Ministry of Health is dedicating “significant resources” to launch this innovation. Specifically, the SCS estimates it has already invested tens of millions of euros in this particular project. “It is going to be a major leap forward in healthcare provision,” Goya insists. To begin with, the health service has changed how it develops its software applications. “They are no longer developed as in the past,” Goya explains, noting that until now, the norm has been to create applications based on the individual needs of each Management Area.
“Now, all developments being undertaken are led by the Canary Islands Health Service with the intention of creating that central pillar upon which the single clinical history will be built,” he adds. The idea is to gradually create thematic modules to house all information on a specific subject. For example, a module could be created within the future application to centralise all diagnostic imaging data. “Healthcare staff will be able to access it through the connection of the platform they normally use,” Goya says. Once all modules are operational and in use, “the old systems can be phased out.”
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