CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.2 Recommendations
The following recommendations are warranted in order to attain full potential benefits from the EMR:
a) While training has been iteratively improved with time, more work needs to be done, and creative ways of addressing training needs should be considered like making sure that the existing training curriculum is closely followed and adhered to at all times. All trainings on the EMR should be done outside clinic days since it affects patients’ care and the learning process,
b) Baobab Health Trust need to fully adapt the EMR to accommodate and all information captured in paper based system like patient medical history, physical examination findings, all laboratory findings and diagnosis of all opportunistic infections,
MPH Dissertation. University of Malawi-College of Medicine Page 51 c) Train all users on data cleaning, system repair, and report generation. Users need to be more empowered with knowledge and skills in order to use the EMR independently and effectively with minimal external support,
d) Need to train more people on EMR because of the huge staff turnover within the Ministry of Health, district and within the clinic,
e) There is need to upgrade the EMR if possible so it is able to give feedback on what has happened to patients referred,
f) There is need for the development of a user manual or guidelines with all trouble shooting needed and what to do when a system including the server has a problem,
g) The Ministry of Health should come up with a clear scale up plan of the EMR so potential sites and users are well prepared in advance and should have a clear and realistic time frame.
MPH Dissertation. University of Malawi-College of Medicine Page 52
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Demographics. First let’s start with a little Information about you.
1. Gender: Male