Abstract
We describe a handheld-based electronic medical record (EMR) for use in certain rural settings. The system is based on the Linux operating system and allows access to large mobile databases. The open source system is designed for paramedical health workers serving remote areas in rural India. A PDA loaded with the handheld-based EMR provides workers who have little access to medical doctors with different kinds of decision support and alerts. It addresses two important problems in developing countries: prenatal care and child health. This paper describes the technical challenges and innovation needed in the design, development, adaptation and implementation of the handheld EMR in a real setting in India
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bergeron B. P. Pen-based computing: applications in clinical medicine. J Med Pract Manage. 2000 Nov-Dec;16(3):148–150. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fong B. C., Doyle D. J. Respiratory consultant: a hand-held computer-based system for oxygen therapy and critical care medicine. Int J Clin Monit Comput. 1997 Aug;14(3):155–163. doi: 10.1007/BF03356590. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larkin M. Can handheld computers improve the quality of care? Lancet. 2001 Oct 27;358(9291):1438–1438. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(01)06550-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Porn Louis M., Patrick Kelly. Mobile computing acceptance grows as applications evolve. Healthc Financ Manage. 2002 Jan;56(1):66–70. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thomas S. M., Overhage J. M., Warvel J., McDonald C. J. A comparison of a printed patient summary document with its electronic equivalent: early results. Proc AMIA Symp. 2001:701–705. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Zupan B., Porenta A., Vidmar G., Aoki N., Bratko I., Beck J. R. Decisions at hand: a decision support system on handhelds. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2001;84(Pt 1):566–570. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]