NITDA, HRORBN plan software to digitise patient health records

Health Records Officers’ Registration Board of Nigeria (HRORBN) and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) are working on a partnership to develop a software for electronic health records system for use in hospitals and health schools. Registrar of the board Ibrahim Mami and director-general of NITDA Isah Pantami met in talks in Abuja where NITDA […]

Health Records Officers’ Registration Board of Nigeria (HRORBN) and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) are working on a partnership to develop a software for electronic health records system for use in hospitals and health schools.

Registrar of the board Ibrahim Mami and director-general of NITDA Isah Pantami met in talks in Abuja where NITDA vowed it is "ready and willing" to partner, according to a statement from HRORBN on Tuesday.

A universal electronic health records would put patient information on an online database linking hospitals and can be accessed at any point nationwide, Mami explained, taking away the use of manual records.

Only a handful of major hospitals use an electronic system for filing patient information; all others use pen and paper.

Mami explained manual health records system was "tiring and cumbersome" and patients data are often misplaced, misfiled or lost.

"Most times, patients are always at the receiving end as whenever anything happens to their records, the officer in charge always leaves them to their fate especially in rural areas," he noted.

Pantami said other developed and developing countries have already gone digital, adding, "The earlier our health facilities adopt this measure, the better for all of us."