Hello there! I am Daniel from Malaysia. I would like to ask how paper records are dealt with after implementation of bahmni. More specifically, are these paper records scanned and able to be viewed via the bahmni UI?
Idea of scanning the records and viewing via UI is really awesome.Unfortunately we don’t have support for scanning of paper records and viewing via UI.
In bahmni one of our main goal is to minimize as much paperwork as possible.
For second thought, in implementations we have installed bahmni in the hospitals via LAN networks. Doctors and registration clerks are the ones who is interacting with the system. We can always take the regular backups and store it.So, there are less chances of loosing the information.
I agree that they serve as redundancy. For redundancy of information we are using the backups of patient records.
Thank you for the prompt reply, Ms Padma. Noted and thank you for the input.
I think where I am from we would still like to maintain a part of the physical component and maybe then I shall development a module to allow this feature. Just a few more questions about this as I value your input:
What format would you recommend these scanned documents be saved as? PDF, JPG, PNG or another format?
And how would you suggest bahmni or openMRS go about this process? Being able to retrieve these scanned documents and display them?
I remember hearing that one implementation was scanning historical paper charts when patients came in for the first time post-EMR deployment.
And the Features wiki page specifically mentions that the documents function can be used to attach paper record scans:
Patient Documents
Your hospital may have to receive and capture patient’s information in form of documents. This could include patient’s paper record scans, X-Ray images and other documents received from external entities. Bahmni allows you to upload these documents by tagging them and associating it to specific visits of a patient. These documents can be captured directly (by using the camera) using a mobile interface of Bahmni too. All these documents get attached to patient’s record viewable from other parts in Bahmni. On these documents the clinicians can also write their comments/notes.
@darius, correct me if I am wrong, above documentation is talking about X-Rays and Scanned reports (Radiology orders). But we don’t have support for scanning paper records like a paper having description of medicine and how many times patient should take and when he should come next time etc. I think @danielng91 is talking about this kind of paper records, is it correct @danielng91?
@padmavati nono. More like, prior to the implementation of an electronic paper record system, case notes were taken in paper. So I was wondering if those paper records can be scanned, and if the need arises, be accessible online to see again instead of having to go to the paper records department and request for the physical files.
@darius You are correct. We can scan the patient documents and save it, through patient documents module.
@danielng91 : Following is the URL for demo on Bahmni.
There we have emr demo, once you login into the demo environment, you will be able to access the patient documents module where we can upload the paper records of the patient.
@danielng91, there are a couple of ways in which you can upload the scanned documents in Bahmni
You can store relevant documents while filling up the forms. This wiki will show you how to configure document uploads in Bahmni Observation forms.
Using the “Document Upload” module of Bahmni. This module is available on the Home Page of Bahmni as @akhilmalhotra pointed out and users with role “Patient-Documents-Upload” should be able to upload the documents.
Sorry for the late reply! And thank you for all your prompt ones! Will explore those features and hopefully be able to implement. Will ask again if I can’t get it.
