Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol.9 issue.4 2019
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Implementation of electronic medical records at an Emergency Medicine Department in Tanzania: The information technology perspective
Dublin Core
Title
Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol.9 issue.4 2019
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Implementation of electronic medical records at an Emergency Medicine Department in Tanzania: The information technology perspective
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Implementation of electronic medical records at an Emergency Medicine Department in Tanzania: The information technology perspective
Subject
Emergency Department Information System
(EDIS)
EMD: Emergency Medicine Department
Emergency Medical Record (EMR)
Hospital Management System (HMS)
(EDIS)
EMD: Emergency Medicine Department
Emergency Medical Record (EMR)
Hospital Management System (HMS)
Description
In 2015, the Emergency Medicine Department at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) installed and implemented
the first Electronic Medical Record (EMR) tailored to the emergency centre (EC). The EMR deployed was de-
signed for emergency centre use only (Emergency Department Information System (EDIS)) and linked with the
existing EMR that focused on registration and billing. This very collaborative experience can be used as a re-
ference to share the many lessons learnt by all, including hospital management, EC staff, private funders and
EMR vendors. The IT Project Plan was developed to make sure steps were followed for EDIS implementation.
This included the IT plan documents, specific user requirements, development of a Memorandum of
Understanding and user manuals. Super key users were identified among the staff during the training and they
helped to empower staff, consolidate knowledge and share the workload. Several challenges have been over-
come, including when the power was not regulated so an automatic generator and uninterruptible power supply
(UPS) devices installed to protect all computers. Providers were primarily a very novice group of computer users
and many had little to no computer experience so were taught both basic computing skills and EDIS specific
tasks. Trained staff were moved around the hospital and a lot of time was taken up training new staff, so
discussion with hospital management led to retention of staff in the EC. Specific templates have been introduced
to ensure adequate minimum documentation. However, even with these, clinical notes are often very brief and
we are searching for further mechanisms to improve this. Hospitals in low-resource settings considering the
implementation of an EMR should ensure that a comprehensive plan is in place that involves significant staff
training, improvement of existing, or installation of new information technology systems, ongoing ICT support
and funds for unforeseen issues and ongoing maintenance.
the first Electronic Medical Record (EMR) tailored to the emergency centre (EC). The EMR deployed was de-
signed for emergency centre use only (Emergency Department Information System (EDIS)) and linked with the
existing EMR that focused on registration and billing. This very collaborative experience can be used as a re-
ference to share the many lessons learnt by all, including hospital management, EC staff, private funders and
EMR vendors. The IT Project Plan was developed to make sure steps were followed for EDIS implementation.
This included the IT plan documents, specific user requirements, development of a Memorandum of
Understanding and user manuals. Super key users were identified among the staff during the training and they
helped to empower staff, consolidate knowledge and share the workload. Several challenges have been over-
come, including when the power was not regulated so an automatic generator and uninterruptible power supply
(UPS) devices installed to protect all computers. Providers were primarily a very novice group of computer users
and many had little to no computer experience so were taught both basic computing skills and EDIS specific
tasks. Trained staff were moved around the hospital and a lot of time was taken up training new staff, so
discussion with hospital management led to retention of staff in the EC. Specific templates have been introduced
to ensure adequate minimum documentation. However, even with these, clinical notes are often very brief and
we are searching for further mechanisms to improve this. Hospitals in low-resource settings considering the
implementation of an EMR should ensure that a comprehensive plan is in place that involves significant staff
training, improvement of existing, or installation of new information technology systems, ongoing ICT support
and funds for unforeseen issues and ongoing maintenance.
Creator
Ramadhani Jumanne Mashoka, Brittany Murray, Upendo George, Natalia Lobue, Juma Mfinanga, Hendry Sawe, Libby White
Source
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2019.07.002
Date
21 July 2019
Contributor
PERI IRAWAN
Format
PDF
Language
ENGLISH
Type
TEXT
Files
Citation
Ramadhani Jumanne Mashoka, Brittany Murray, Upendo George, Natalia Lobue, Juma Mfinanga, Hendry Sawe, Libby White, “Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol.9 issue.4 2019
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Implementation of electronic medical records at an Emergency Medicine Department in Tanzania: The information technology perspective,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed November 21, 2024, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/1794.
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Implementation of electronic medical records at an Emergency Medicine Department in Tanzania: The information technology perspective,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed November 21, 2024, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/1794.