On my ongoing conquest of exploring different practical aspects and bridging the gap between Medicine and Mobiles, I have realized that there is a lot of work to be done.  Although there are Medical Apps in the market that will benefit the end user (Doctor and/or Patient) but their contribution to our society in terms of data gathering and analysis is zero. This does not mean that Apps are no good, but this just shows that there is still a huge gap in terms of what we can achieve.

Why should you as a doctor focus on electronic data gathering (Medical/Health Records)?

EHR are now used in most industrialized nations of the world but the situation is different in the emerging markets. Thus before we can focus more on the issue let us take a look at what EHR is and why should we use it.

EHR or Electronic Health Records are an easily accessible, cloud based and secure patient information network system which is a key to putting patient information at the center of a doctor’s clinical practice. There are many benefits of which the key one’s are as follows:

• Easy access to Patient information.
• Reduce cost of storage and copying of paper health records.
• Minimize drug prescriptions errors.
• Reduce patient callbacks
• EHR systems greatly aid clinicians in immediate patient treatment and in capturing key information.
• Create higher quality documentation (auditable, legible and organized charts and records).
• Eliminate overhead administrative positions and reallocate staff.
• New regulatory mandates (e.g. HIPAA) require better, more complete, secure and auditable health records.
• More complete records helps clinicians and staff to avoid mistakes and to manage the cost of malpractice insurance.
• Research and Decision Support are key uses for patient-related data.

There are many other benefits but the last in the above list is numero uno reason why Hospitals and solo physicians should opt for EHR. Once the EHR systems (on a regional or national level) starts to build, it provides access to unprecedented amounts of clinical data for research that can accelerate the level of knowledge of effective medical practices.

Emerging Markets & EHR

Countries like India, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan etc. harbor one third of the worlds population. The number of doctor patient visits is far more as compared to the industrialized nations like United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada etc. On an average day the OPD (i.e. Clinics) can have as many as 50 to 100+ patients but since there is no availability of a centralized health record keeping system, all this huge resource of clinical data is lost. I will not go further into the logistics but this should be sufficient to get your attention on the amount of precious data we lose by each passing day.

Ovi EHR Concept Model

Having been a mobile enthusiast from my student days, I have always looked into the possibility of using mobiles in different medical scenarios. The simple reason being that they are cost effective, simple and almost everyone can afford. With the increasing number of mobile devices being bought coupled with reduced network cost it is now feasible to start a health record system that can be deployed on a mobile.

The basic aim here is to record detailed medical health data of a patient using cloud based ovi services on a computer in a hospital setting which can be later retrieved on a mobile device. Patients can access their information at home using their mobile device or computer and submit new information.

At present the service would be used to gather medical data in a secured environment and later in the years a billing system such as Nokia Money can be implemented to this service. On gaining a substantial data, analytic charts can be formulated to track various demographic and epidemiological factors associated with diseases. This will also provide real-time data on daily basis.

Benefits

Some of the major benefits would be cost effective electronic health record system which would include a timely, accurate, ease of data entry and flexible reporting. This system would be capable of proving accurate health statistics and in the long run help the parent company {Nokia} generate revenue by displaying private ads in a non-intrusive way.

Screenshots

Closure

At this point I would like to welcome your thoughts on the this concept/idea. Are you a resident of the emerging markets? How does you family doctor record medical data? Will this idea be helpful in your community? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.