The inability to have one-stop shop medical care from one physician‚ clinic or hospital drives up the cost of medical care to a patient due to duplicate tests‚ communication barriers between healthcare providers and patients‚ and the lack of consistent accountability and transparency of patient documentation‚ costs‚ diagnosis and treatment. Inconsistent healthcare practices‚ policies and procedures restrict the sharing‚ transferring and exchanging of consistent patient history between physicians‚ authorized healthcare support staff and hospitals and clinics. As a result‚ the practices of un-authorized doctors‚ clandestine hospitals‚ clinics‚ and made-belief doctors put patients’ lives in danger. Unfortunately many doctors and facilities are not held accountable for malpractice. So many unauthorized care take place in house basements where most patients die or leave other medical problems caused by fraudulent doctors. Installing IT is a way to encourage authorizes caregivers to do more for patients. Other doctors can follow patient history when there is documentation.
Since there is no way to have complete patient history‚ the blame is shared by everyone who has treated the patient but no adequate documentation. Very few healthcare facilities produce discharge summaries‚ operative reports‚ consultation summaries or complete test results. The lack of documentation contributes to poor quality of care. It is about time for Doctors and healthcare install computers systems that help in collecting patient data. Our activities include computerizing hospitals and also adding great lighting from the top healthcare lighting companies. A well-installed electronic healthcare record is a solution for these kinds of problems. The not only permit the sharing of patient history but hold healthcare givers accountable.
The lack of accountability and transparency to patients create a lack of confidence in the quality of healthcare provision. Why should a treatment procedure used in treating a case at one hospital not be used for the same treatment at another hospitals? Why should a patient who was seen at one hospital be required to perform the same tests and Labs at another hospital when the same labs and tests can be shared for follow-up treatment? Why should private clinics and hospitals charge patients for more than the amount charged at another hospital for same treatment? These questions are answered through a computerized healthcare system. In Botswana‚ patients are treated with better outcomes at reduced costs due to the installation information technologies systems. With the installation of a Healthcare Management Information System (HMIS)‚ research and development using data mining helps in decision-making.
If we can create healthy people‚ we can reduce poverty. If we can reduce poverty‚ we can improve economic outcomes. With these bring social order and peace. Our research is not to impose our solutions on the people of Cameroon but working with Cameroonians to empower potent teams. We also are working with solutions with the opioid epidemic to tackle healthcare costs. The vision of MH-GC is to revive Cameroon’s ingenuity in healthcare self –reliance programs because this method leads to sustainability and not dependency on the West. Most nongovernmental organizations use obsolete approaches that are based on recycling conventional solutions that inhibit self- reliance sustainable 21st Century thinking. The solutions create a culture of dependency.
Managing Patient Documentation using Healthcare Information System
