The Mosoriot medical record system: design and initial implementation of an outpatient electronic record system in rural Kenya

Mosoriot Health Center is a rural primary care facility situated on the out skirts of Eldoret, Kenya in sub-Saharan Africa. The region is characterised by widespread poverty and a very poor technology infrastructure. Many hous es do not have electricity, telephones or tap water. The health center does have electricity and tap water. In a collaborative project between Indiana University and the Moi University Faculty of Health Sciences (MUFHS), we d esigned a core electronic medical record system within the Mosoriot Health Center, with the intention of improving the quality of health data collecti on and, subsequently, patient care. The electronic medical record system wi ll also be used to link clinical data from the health center to information collected from the public health surveys performed by medical. students pa rticipating in the public health research programs of Moi University. This paper describes the processes involved in the development of the computer-b ased Mosoriot medical record system (MMRS) up to the point of implementatio n. It particularly focuses on the decisions and trade-offs that must be mad e when introducing this technology into an established health care system i n a developing country. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights r eserved.