iCareConnect+

In October 2022, the EMR was deployed at the UDSM health center and used as a living lab model where medical personnel co-work with the developers to improve it to meet hospital clinical needs and standards set by the Tanzania’s e-Government Authority (eGA). The system supports over 119 staff members, including 27 Doctors, 5 Pharmacists, 10 Laboratory Scientists, 2 Cashiers, 62 Nurses, 3 Health Administrators, 10 Office Attendants, and 1 IT officer. Also, the University Health Center serves about 2,500 patients per month. It provides effective care coordination through streamlined workflows and information sharing to improve productivity and efficiency while reducing paperwork. Moreover, integrated patient tracking allows billing and insurance claims to be accurate and transparent. The following are the impacts of using the iCareConnect+ EMR system in hospital, clinic, health centers or dispensary:

• User-friendly interface, quick and secure access to medical records, as the system is hosted and accessed on the hospital’s local network,
• Efficient and effective patient journey execution, from admission to consultation, diagnosis, lab testing until hospital discharge,
• Support billing of all hospital services and exemption mechanism for patients with financial challenges,
• Secure exchange of electronic information with the National Health Information Funds (NHIF) verification system,
• Direct integration with the DHIS2 national data warehouse have resulted in increasing rates in data reporting of about 160 to over 200%,
• Increased data security and easy data backup and recovery,
• Effective software for medium- and large-sized clinics and hospitals,
• Reduced costs through decreased paperwork, improved safety, reduced duplication of testing, and Improved medication safety,
• Promotion of digital medical records management with online tracking and reporting,
• Facilitation of communication between healthcare providers
• Promotion of quality of care through optimized access to and adherence to guidelines
• Software support with a team of dedicated system developers from UDSM DHIS2 Lab