Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) Makurdi is set to move from the paper system of medical records keeping to the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system to enhance patient care, reduce costs, minimise errors, and improve communication among healthcare providers.
This is even as the chief medical director of BSUTH, Dr Stephen Hwande, disclosed in one of his interviews that he is committed to transitioning the hospital to electronic patient management for better care and reduced costs.
Dr Hwande also informed that his office had received over ten resignation letters following the introduction of biometric capturing, where all staff of BSUTH sign in as they resume work and out when they are closing. He added that the action is not to witch-haunt anyone but to operate a system where all staff are committed to their duty.
Hwande stated, “In less than one month since I introduced the biometric capturing for Staff, I have received over 10 resignation letters.
This is to tell you that those people were not staff of BSUTH, but they were on the payroll collecting money wherever they were. I want to say here that step by step, this facility will transition to electronic patient management for better services.”
He said, “Plans are also underway to introduce identity cards with all the names of our staff boldly written on them from security to the top to facilitate the easy identification of those harassing patients or their relations for appropriate sanction, and I believe this will help stop the issue of harassment.’’
It was gathered that the strategic technical team completed its final training session on Saturday, 18th January 2025, in preparation for the deployment.
Addressing participants at the end of the training, the Director of Finance, BSUTH Michael Abah, said that now that the world has gone digital, EMR is very important and will help improve the system’s efficiency and effectiveness.
According to Abah, “the EMR system will help in enhancing patient care, reduce costs, minimise errors, and improve communication among healthcare providers.”
He said staff from medical records, laboratories, nursing, doctors, dentists, ICT, information, and other special services areas have been trained to ensure the system’s smooth implementation.
Our correspondent gathered that the BSUTH Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system would commence on Tuesday, 21st January 2025.
