Deployment and Innovation Processes of Integrated Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System: A Case of University Health Centre Living Lab in Tanzania

Abstract

An efficient and effective electronic medical record system mainly focuses on capturing patients' data across all health services and processing them electronically. It also involves the management of patient data, planning and monitoring, and decision-making intelligently. iCareConnect+ is the OpenMRS-based electronic medical record system deployed at the University of Dar es Salaam Health Centre living lab. Several innovation actors have been involved, including practitioners' participation (Doctors, Cashiers, Laboratory technicians, Pharmacists, and IT experts) during the development and innovation processes in different capacities of knowledge sharing, challenge identification, system design and testing, system usage feedback sharing, training, and research. This paper summarises the key challenges identified and development approaches, results, and system implementation benefits. The work also provides strategies and recommendations for sustainable development and performance of a hospital management information system using a living lab model.