Records And Pharmacy Systems Integration And Expansion With GIS For Thika Level 5 Health Facility Comprehensive Care Clinic

Fellow's Name: 

Wilfrida Momanyi

Fellows Track: 

Health Informatics

Fellows Cohort: 

First Cohort 

 

Health care is an information exchange business where clinicians collect data on patients (history and physical examination) record all these data and transmit it to various departments of care.  This information is necessary to provide and manage healthcare at all levels ranging from individual patients to systems within the health sector.  The efficiency and effectiveness of any health system at all these levels is dependent on accurate and timely data.  In developing countries, electronic medical records (EMRs) are becoming a necessary component for efficient collection, storage and retrieval of patient medical information of many illnesses including   the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). 
The number of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) receiving Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) in Kenya is growing at an alarming rate (KAIS, 2007).  This growth has an impact on the weak health systems and the transition from paper-based to EMRs (B. Mamlin et al, 2006).
In Kenya, many health facilities in the public sector depend on weak paper-based storage and retrieval systems mainly due to the slow uptake of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and massive implementation of disparate health information systems. 
One main disadvantage of managing PLHIV on ART on disparate health systems is that some vital information such as weights, heights, BMI (for adults) and CD4% that need to be monitored regularly can easily escape the attention of the clinicians if the patient visits one section because the systems do not share information.  This information is necessary for efficient patient monitoring in order to improve clinical management and program intervention among PLHIV.  In order to efficiently and effectively collect, store, analyze and disseminate health information, linking existing disparate health information systems is vital.