ISSN 2167-0404
International Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences ISSN: 2167-0404 Vol. 3 (4), pp. 419-427, April, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Perspective
Personal medical record: Dominica’s low-tech, low-cost solution for a high-tech, high-cost problem
Kamal Malaker
Department of ICM, Ross University School of Medicine, Portsmouth, Commonwealth of Dominica. Email:
[email protected] / [email protected].
Accepted 22 March, 2013
Abstract
The advantages of personal medical records in health maintenance and cost reduction have been well studied, and they are recommended as an integral part of health care management. Several Electronic Personal Medical Record (ePMR) systems have been developed, but their popularity and utility falls far short of expectations. Cost, confidentiality, and logistics are all problematic in implementing an acceptable ePMR system. Out of necessity, Dominica, an island nation in the eastern Caribbean, developed a manual Personal Health Record (mPMR), which effectively overcame all of the above problems. Some refinement of its current state will make it the most useful and cost effective system in certain places and an initial step while moving into an electronic phase. Dominica’s system may be adopted by smaller nations or small communities (as a unit) in larger countries at a fraction of the high-tech cost and administrative hassle.
Key words: ePMR, mPMR, cost, confidentiality, universal adoptability.