Computerization of the Kenyan Health Care Records
Caroline Mwangi · Theseus (Ammattikorkeakoulujen) · 2013
The purpose of this paper is to create awareness of the benefits of a computerized health care system as opposed to the manual system of record keeping currently in operation within the Kenyan healthcare sector. This paper highlights the current problems that hospitals face and how they can be eliminated. In the research of this Thesis, it was found that the Kenyan population estimates as of 2011 records 41 million inhabitants. The largest referral hospital in Kenya, the Kenyatta national hospital currently has to contend with 3,000 manual transactions daily with stationery accounting for 12 per cent of it is administrative costs. Lack of computer-based files means that health care professionals cannot effectively cater to the patients’ well-being. The health of these inhabitants is vital and this paper will emphasize on how computerization in the health care system will revamp it. By digitizing over 40 million records and other technology transformations, the Kenyatta hospital believes that it will contribute to the knowledge transfer and citizen transformation ecosystem. The research questions for this paper were: What is the current situation in the Kenyan medical record system in the health sector? How can a computer-based system be incorporated in the Kenyan health sector? What are the benefits of introducing a computer-based system in the Kenyan health sector? As a result of the thesis, ideas of a computerized healthcare system were formulated and a general framework of the system examined. The computer-based system derived from this paper would be able to effectively and efficiently output the identity of individuals, their diagnosis and medical history without necessarily having to go back to the manual bundle of records.