Transforming patient care by introducing an electronic medical records initiative in a developing country.
The incorporation of an electronic medical record into patient care is a priority in developed countries, but faces significant obstacles for adoption in developing countries. The goal of our study was to define and assess the efficiency of a personalized intervention on village physicians' use of electronic medical records in rural community health services of underprivileged areas. Six towns were selected with two bordering local health stations from each town. One was randomly given to the intervention group and the other to the control group. A structured on-site intervention was provided to village physicians in the intervention group, for 7 months. The results showed that in the intervention group, the percentage of households with complete records increased. The percentage of clinic medical records and complete child vaccination in the intervention group also increased from 2 to 14 percent (p = <0.05) and from 10 to 23 percent (p = 0.05), respectively. Our investigation demonstrated that on-site education, supervision, and technical support directly correlate with improved use of electronic medical record. Our results report the challenges in implementing such a system and the steps being taken to enhance likelihood of sustainability.
Emory University Hospital, USA waqas1184@hotmail.com.
Waqas
W
Shuaib
Emory University Hospital, USA.|Ministry of Public Health, Dominican Republic.|Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud, Dominican Republic.|Reading Health System, USA.|Grady Memorial Hospital, USA.|Dow University of Health Sciences, Pakistan.|Reading Health System, USA.|University of Minnesota, USA.|Ministry of Public Health, Dominican Republic; Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud, Dominican Republic.
Julia Marielly
JM
Suarez
Ministry of Public Health, Dominican Republic.
Juan David
JD
Romero
Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud, Dominican Republic.
Carlos Dillon
CD
Pamello
Reading Health System, USA.
Richard
R
Alweis
Grady Memorial Hospital, USA.
Aizaaz Ali
AA
Khan
Dow University of Health Sciences, Pakistan.
Syed Raza
SR
Shah
Reading Health System, USA.
Hassan
H
Shahid
University of Minnesota, USA.
Serge B
SB
PierreCharles
Ministry of Public Health, Dominican Republic; Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud, Dominican Republic.
Laura Rosemary
LR
Sanchez
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004293:Dominican Republic; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
digital; electronic medical record; initiative; patient care