CHAIRMAN of the Board of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Dr. Leslie Ramsammy on Friday said that he is confident that they will meet the president’s commitment of implementing an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system throughout the country.
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Dr. Ramsammy made those remarks during his address at the GPHC’s launch of an EMR in its medical clinic, aimed at running a more efficient health system for more reliable record keeping.
The Chairman said: “It is a very special occasion, and one that we should remember as momentous, because, having an electronic health record in place is a significant development.”
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He said that the introduction of this type of system has been over two decades in the making. Dr. Ramsammy also revealed that in 2003 an EMR system was introduced in the Hospital’s HIV clinic but it did not work out because staff did not embrace the shift.

“But today, I believe the new generation of doctors and nurses are quite adept at utilising technology, and I have absolutely no doubt that we will not have yet another start but that this start will take us to greater heights. So, I’m confident that we will meet the president’s declaration that Guyana will have EMR in place this year,” Dr Ramsammy said.

During the launch, it was revealed that in March 2021, the Pan American Health Organisation committed to the development of EMR at the hospital and the application was piloted at the internal medicine clinic. It was further revealed that the first set of patients were added to the system in July 2023.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of GPHC Robbie Rambarran also said that this was another step towards modernising healthcare in Guyana.
He added that they were given the ambitious task by President, Dr Irfaan Ali to create a healthcare system that is world-class.
Rambarran said: “I think at GPHC, with the support from the Ministry of Health, I think we are on the right trajectory in accomplishing that mandate.”

The CEO revealed that technical support was received from PAHO along with the open-source software “Bahmni” from India.
He indicated that while the software was open, the GPHC has enlisted a local firm, Techlify, that worked on the back end to tailor the software to meet GPHC’s specific needs.

He further noted that this is a step in the right direction as the hospital is in talks to replicate this type of EMR system in other departments like the Maternity unit and the Emergency Unit with an aim to further have the same all across the hospital.
Late last year, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony said that with the government looking to create a modern healthcare system for Guyana, the ministry was working on legislation for electronic records.

At that time, he said that the government was working to ensure the digital collection and storage of all medical records over the next three to four years. This, he said, would require nurses and other medical staff to be trained in operating the system.