Peace Corps plans EHR system in 2013

The Peace Corps plans to acquire a comprehensive electronic health records system to serve its volunteers stationed in 77 developing countries. The agency wants to develop a proof of concept electronic health record (EHR) and test  However, the Peace Corps faces challenges in establishing an EHR that can reach all its volunteer posts.

Many of the developing regions where volunteers work, primarily in Africa and the Asia Pacific, have low bandwidth and big delays in processing network data because it is difficult to acquire affordable Internet connectivity, according to a recent request for information announcement in Federal Business Opportunities.

“An overall solution must work for all posts, not just the well-connected ones,” the agency said. Peace Corps staff in country will use a laptop or mobile device to record basic medical information and synchronize it to OpenEMR, a free and open source application that will be used in post countries for practice management and be customized to meet requirements. It is also certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to meet meaningful use requirements...