Low-cost medical records system: a model

Abstract

A low-cost microcomputer-based online system has been developed for the basic In-patient Medical Records functions of a General Hospital. Its basic functions are: to access patient data, register and admit a patient, enter drugs, treatment or operation details on a patient, discharge a patient, and produce the discharge summary. The single-user system is entirely menu-driven and has user-friendly retrieval facilities for the end-users. The information contents and concepts are based on the manual Medical Records system at Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone. For example, each database patient master record embodies the form on the inner cover of the Case Note Folder, and it is accessed by Patient Number or Patient Name. Unlike the popular network-oriented, general-purpose Hospital Information System, based on the MUMPS/FileMan technology of the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), this system is based on DBASE IV for the creation and manipulation of Medical Records Relational databases, interfaced with Visual Basic for the end-user operations. Our approach is to develop a single-user system, dependent on locally available computer resources and expertise, and be affordable to a variety of hospitals in the region. The system is operational with test cases and it is ready for pilot conversion on demand.