EMRs Help Boost HIV Care In Developing Countries

Electronic medical records improve the quality of care in developing countries, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and the schools of medicine at Indiana University and Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The study is one of the first to explore and demonstrate the impact of electronic record systems on quality of medical care in a developing country.

In a paper published in the March 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Martin Chieng Were, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute investigator, and his colleagues report that computer-generated reminders about overdue tests yielded nearly a 50 percent increase in the appropriate ordering of CD4 blood tests. CD4 counts are critical to monitoring the health of patients with HIV. The tests help guide treatment decisions.

The researchers who evaluated the impact of just-in-time clinician support (implemented within electronic medical records) on healthcare provider behavior and quality of care conducted their investigation in clinics in Eldoret, Kenya. The comparative study, which is one of the first to use computer-generated clinical reminders in sub-Saharan Africa, found that clinical summaries with computer-generated reminders significantly improved clinician adherence to CD4 testing guidelines.

This work is particularly significant, say the researchers, because of the many medical errors that occur in settings where too few skilled healthcare providers deal with a large patient population with critical illnesses...