Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe District has made significant strides in modernising its healthcare delivery system through the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs).
In 2016, the government rolled out the electronic health record system in a move aimed at revolutionising the health delivery system and to date over 20 health facilities in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP) district are using the system even those in hard-to-reach areas.
Healthcare workers in the district have also praised the EHR system for its ease of use and efficiency.
The Sister in Charge at Tsokodeka Clinic, Sister Priscila Chihaka said, “I was deployed here in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe in 2017. When I was deployed here at Tsokodeka Clinic, I saw the electronic health record system that had already been piloted. Then I got into it and I was done an on-the-job mentorship training to be able to use the EHR. From there, it was good to go. Electronic health record is the way to go. It’s one of the easiest things to use other than registers, because with the registers, it’s difficult to move within wards. But with EHR, you are able to manoeuvre all the words using one tablet. This electronic health record tablet consists of all the registers that are in the Ministry of Health.”
She added, “The advantage of electronic health, is you are able to use one tablet with 45 registers. Unlike paper registers, you need a pile of 45 registers, which took up more space in our clinical area. With electronic health, you need even one tablet. It consists of all the 45 registers. You are able to save data and you synchronize it. You are able to do a daily backup. Daily backup, that is sending your daily data to the national level. In case of fire, in case of electrical fault, the data is already stored at the central server. That’s the best part of electronic health. With registers, with paper registers, they tend to get lost or torn. But with this electronic health, there’s no way you can lose your data. Your data is safely kept. The registers that we are talking about, we have got the antenatal registers. We have got the IMNC registers. We have got the TB registers. We have got the presumptive TB registers. We have got the delivery registers. We have the post-natal registers. We have the IMNCI registers. We have got the TPT registers. There are many, up to 45 registers.”
A lab technician at Mtawatawa District Hospital, Ms Josephine Nhapi noted, “This programme has helped us a lot in the laboratory. For example, it reduced errors, like transcriptional errors, like when you want to write something and maybe you can write it wrongly. So with EHR, errors were minimized and the turnaround time of our results was also reduced. For example, if you have finished processing a sample, you can easily enter the results in EHR and the authorized personnel who need the results may see it as soon as you have entered the results in the EHR and it has been verified. And the results may be helpful to the patient and corrective action may be taken again to assist the patient management. Also, electronic records can be accessed quickly and easily, like the paper paste that we’re using. With electronic, anyone can access it and when you log into EHR, maybe if you are a nurse and you want to search for your results, you can easily log into the EHR and you can easily see the results. But if the result is not there, you can inform the lab and ask for the results and the results are input in the EHR and the nurse can also see the results.”
According to UMP District Medical Officer, Dr Gladman Tendayi Mubobani, the EHR system has been instrumental in improving patient health outcomes.
“This is the district which piloted the Impilo Electronic Health Records in 2016. Mashambanhaka Clinic in Uzumba was the first clinic to pilot the program and it was cascaded to the other 21 facilities by early 2017. So this has been a very helpful and instrumental project. We have managed to eliminate some paper registers in our facilities. As of now, we have managed to eliminate eight paper-based registers and there are plans to eliminate 14 more paper-based registers. So as you can see, the program has been very successful in the district.
“There are several advantages. Number one is to improve patient records safety. It has also improved efficiency in our service delivery system. It has also improved our supply chain management systems as we can be able to manage our drug stocks. It has also helped us in reducing medical errors because the system corrects our practitioners whenever they make errors in the dosing. For UMP, we have been very successful. In the UMP district, all health workers have appreciated and acknowledged electronic health records and every nurse in the district is implementing the program. Maybe as a bonus to the nation, the district has been playing a leading role in training other districts in the country on the implementation of electronic health records. So to date how many earthquake facilities in the district have adopted EHRs that’s 100% of them, 22 facilities.”
From the clinic to the maternity ward to the laboratory and the pharmacy the adoption of electronic health records is transforming healthcare delivery as the country moves towards achieving universal health coverage and improving patient outcomes.
