Check out some of the health forms here and some pictures of the current Health Information Management System here

The 3 main accomplishments of the EMR implementation are:

1. By having access to accurate information, staff is taking the initiative to find more ways to use that data to increase awareness and improve work at the clinic such as making bar graphs and pie charts
2. Staff are inspired by the effect the EMR system has on data collection and are asking to use the EMR in more departments
3. Entering data into the EMR system is making data collection more accurate and allowing staff to discover problems with data collection, which can then be corrected.

The full report and survey results are available for feedback and comments.

• Electronic Medical Records (EMR) First Year Evaluation Survey Tool.

Also check out Evelyn’s blog about the Assessment Visit.

Update:
Final Version of Evaluation Report now uploaded.

• May 2010
• July 2010

If you haven’t had a chance to subscribe you can do so easily using our CiviCRM site.

So far, we have met with the following organizations:

1. Pathfinder International (Abuja and Kaduna Offices)
2. Society for Telemedicine and eHealth in Nigeria

Pathfinder has been one of our biggest supporters and we are happy to continue working with them this year. Our main goals with Pathfinder are to continue working on the EMR set-up currently installed at Minjibir General Hospital, work on setting up a contract with the Katsina State Ministry of Health to do EMR implementations at their government Hospitals, and create an EMR synchronization system based in Abuja so that they can store, manage, and access health information from all the EMR implementations.

The Society for Telemedicine and eHealth in Nigeria (branch of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth, ISfTeH) is a new partner and supporter. We had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Olajide Adebola in Abuja to discuss collaboration. Currently, Dr, Adebola is helping eHealth Nigeria register as an international NGO in Nigeria.

We have been working hard on updating and enhancing our EMR system. We hope to have a demo version online in the next month or two and will be posting more data on the EMR system. We will also post training manuals/assessment guides/evaluation guides as we make them. We appreciate all comments and feedback on our work.

To support the improvement of Maternal and Reproductive Health in Northern Nigeria our team will be returning to Nigeria for a 6-month implementation and research phase, July – December 2010. We will pilot the new “Instant EMR” (electronic medical records) with Hospitals in Katsina State as well as deploy the first version of the Nigerian Health Information Exchange (NHIE). The primary research projects will be 1) quantifying the resource, time, and financial cost of health information management and 2) understanding the information and decision making needs of maternal/reproductive health care workers.

Also checkout the most recent press about eHealth Nigeria: “Health sciences student wins $10,000 award to support her work in Nigeria“.

Keep up-to-date with us online to follow our progress, find ways to collaborate and support the work of eHealth Nigeria.

• Twitter [http://twitter.com/eHealthNigeria]
• Facebook [http://www.facebook.com/pages/eHealth-Nigeria/125510877467986]
• Email Newsletter [http://crm.ehealthnigeria.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe?reset=1&gid=3]
• RSS Feed [http://ehealthnigeria.org/feed/]

History

While working in Nigeria last summer, Adam Thompson, who is a research specialist in Information Technology and global development, and Evelyn Castle, a pre-med student at UC Santa Cruz, were faced with 2 huge problems in health care. First, Nigeria has a deteriorating health system with some of the highest rates of maternal and infant deaths where as many as 1 in 13 women die during child birth. Second, international agencies spend 10′s of millions of dollars in Nigeria supporting health programs and health research but the information about their impact and effectiveness is either unavailable or unknown.

In order to solve both these problems, they implemented Electronic Medical Records Systems in a general hospital and a family health clinic. The implementations are solving problems by allowing health workers to access patient data in order to make informed medical decisions and by sharing data with a partner NGO, Pathfinder International, so that they can determine the effects their health care programs are having.

Current Project

Once back in the U.S., eHealth Nigeria was created. The goal has been to develop “Instant EMR”, a ready-to-go Electronic Medical Records set-up. It is made up of low-power computers running an EMR customized specific for health care in Nigeria, powered by solar, has cell phones for community health workers to take out into villages and urban slums to gather data, and training guides in order to support health worker training.

They are heading back to Nigeria to do an estimated 12 “Instant EMR” implementations. The main goals of the next 6 months are to update the “Instant EMR” system for the needs of Nigerian doctors and community health workers, do as many successful/sustainable implementations as possible, strengthen our relationship with partner organizations, like Pathfinder International, and set-up the Nigerian Health Information Exchange in order to provide NGO’s and government Ministires of Health with the information they need to make effective public health decisions.

The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation, established as a memorial to the late Don Strauss of Newport Beach and now designed to award $10,000 scholarships to as many as 15 California college juniors annually, has announced that among the foundation’s new group of recipients is University of California, Santa Cruz student Evelyn Castle.

The Strauss scholarships fund public-service projects that the students have proposed and will carry out during their senior year. Castle, who hails from Orange County, will lead the group eHealth Nigeria, which supports the management of health facilities in Nigeria to influence health-related funding and policy decisions, and provide doctors with the patient information needed to improve decision-making before, during, and after care.

Don Strauss demonstrated a strong, life-long commitment to public service and education, reflected by his serving 10 years on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board, and 12 years on the Newport Beach City Council, including one as mayor.

He also founded summer internships in Washington, D.C., for students at Cornell University, Stanford University, the University of Rhode Island, the California Institute of Technology and Harvey Mudd College, and he endowed scholarships at Stanford, U.C. Irvine and Harvey Mudd. He died in 1995 at the age of 79.

Strauss’ widow, Dorothy M.R. Strauss, established the foundation in January of 1997 as a “tribute to the vision, ideals and leadership of Donald A. Strauss.” In its first year, the foundation board invited 10 universities to nominate up to three students each for Strauss scholarships, with the board making the final selection of the 10 winners. (Dorothy Strauss saw her vision for the Foundation realized–she phoned each of the 10 first-year winners to notify them personally– before she passed away in October of 1997 at the age of 83.)

In the second year the Foundation was able to broaden its reach and award 15 $10,000 scholarships, and now gives 13-15 each year. This new group represents the Foundation’s thirteenth year of awarding such scholarships, and like their counterparts in
the past, all of these recipients have extensive records of community and public service, as well as a demonstrated desire to “make a difference.”

More at Semi – Finals Recap – UCSC Business Plan.

See more at http://www.citris-uc.org/events/bigideasposter2010

eHealth Nigeria won 2nd place in the Project Implementation category, competing against students whom already had their PhD, MD, and MBA’s. eHealth Nigeria was the only group in any category representing the University of California, Santa Cruz and was one of the only featuring an undergraduate. The poster covered the “Instant EMR”, power issues, training and capacity building, and our mobile phone aspect.

Download the full Poster Here

Abstract:
In Northern Nigeria, a deteriorating health system has resulted in one of the World’s highest rates of maternal and infant deaths. This dire situation is amplified by the lack of an effective health information system, leaving hospitals and clinics to make decisions about patient care with only uninformed guesses about medical history and access to unreliable patient registers and reports.

In 2009, GIIP implemented an electronic medical records system using OpenMRS for the Shehu Idris College of Health Science and Technology (SICHST) in Kaduna, Nigeria. The three-month process resulted in electronic forms for all clinical areas, greatly reduced data duplication and a monthly reporting process that takes only seconds. This system provides not only access to the first patient-based health indicators in Nigeria but is also an example of the potential to overcome the harsh computing environment in Nigeria to implement eHealth systems that will improve the quality of care for at-risk women and children.

To continue improving the health outcomes of women and children through the use of effective health information systems, the current goals are:

* To expand the project scope to reach more patients by installing additional systems in high maternal mortality areas.
* To increase usability of the systems with touch screens, patient id cards, and mobile OpenMRS devices for community health workers.
* To create reference systems and eHealth Express ‘Kits’ for the easy deployment of maternal, child and reproductive health information systems.
* To develop training and curriculum for the SICHST as well as staff at supporting NGOs and clinics.

Testing and proving the feasibility of an integrated eHealth system utilizing mobile devices is a vital next step to increasing access to health care services, reducing unnecessary mortality and providing decision-making support to clinicians and public health professionals.