Resultados de la implementación de registros médicos electrónicos (EMR) a nivel regional

Abstract

Health Information Systems (HIS) had been implemented for decades in many countries, not only in developed countries but also in Latin America. Few health centers and hospitals are using this kind of systems in Ecuador, because of the complexity and the high cost that represents the development and maintenance of the system. The majority of hospitals and health centers of the country, know that it will be necessary to invest a big and considerable amount of economic resources to count with the right technologic infrastructure to implement electronic medical record systems. There are many problems to get a system of information besides the lack of infrastructure in Information Technology and Communication (ICT) in hospitals. These problems involve the quality of information, standardization and the risk of the patient health information would be accessed by unauthorized users. This paper investigates implemented electronic medical record (EMR) systems in other countries, especially in Latin America identifying the success cases and mainly benefits of its implementation. Finally, Ecuador´s case presents some information of the system “Si Salud” which had been implemented as a pilot program in many health institutions belonging to the Ministry of Public Health (MHP). As a conclusion I want to make a comparison between electronic health record (HER), and health records that are organized and saved by paper files. It is very important and necessary to know the international normative and standards to get the interoperability of technician systems related to health.