The International Rescue Committee Expands Fight against Ebola; Pioneers Ebola Care with Robust Electronic Medical Records

-- Increasingly commonplace in the West, the IRC is rolling out first-of-its-kind Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in treatment of Ebola

-- To date, most health care workers have used make-shift approaches to keep Ebola patients' records: scanning files, calling results across a room, relying on individuals' memories

-- Organization plans to pilot technology when Monrovia Ebola Treatment Unit opens later this month

News provided by

International Rescue Committee

Dec 05, 2014, 02:30 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Rescue Committee (IRC) today announced that it is testing and plans to deploy electronic medical records in the fight against Ebola.

IRC teams in West Africa currently are preparing and testing the technology, which is aimed at improving Ebola patients' care, clinicians' decision-making, staff safety, and learning for possible future outbreaks. EMRs also will enable the IRC to systematically document the quality of care if provides to patients.

Healthcare worker in Monrovia learns how to to use the IRC's electronic medical record system. Photo: Paul Amendola / International Rescue Committee

Maintaining health records in an Ebola Treatment Unit is complex:

The wet zone is sanitized several times a day with high concentrated chlorine, and no materials can leave the wet zone, and
Health care workers dressed in personal protective equipment have reduced time with patients due to the heat, which means written records are hard to keep.

In addition, records from past outbreaks are virtually non-existent, having been incinerated to prevent infection.

Recognizing the challenges and shortcomings of the system, the IRC put information technology, data, business development and medical teams to work to build an approach that improves the quality and efficiency of care. The result is a system that has the potential to dramatically alter the Ebola response in West Africa and which can pave the way for use of electronic health systems in sub-Saharan Africa generally.

For example, stakeholders will be able to find out in real-time how many patients are seen a day, what percentage of the patients test positive for the Ebola virus, the condition of patients when they arrive, survival rate and which treatments were provided to discharged patients. Instead of an unwieldy process of data collection, all Liberian Ministry of Health forms will be completed automatically with data collected through the EMR – this includes daily updates, contact tracing, and case investigation forms.

In addition, the system will help providers make evidence-based decisions by reminding the provider of proper choices of medicines for certain conditions and dosing.

David Miliband, President and CEO of the IRC said: "The information provided by electronic medical records significantly increases the power and potential we have to fight Ebola and improve care for its victims. EMRs are a potential game-changer, providing us with critical information for the response and important data that can be used during future health emergencies. The fight against Ebola is far from won, and now is the time to redouble our efforts."

ABOUT THE IRC
The International Rescue Committee helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. IRC teams provide health care, infrastructure, learning and economic support to people in 40 countries, with special programs designed for women and children. Every year, the IRC resettles thousands of refugees in 22 U.S. cities. Learn more at Rescue.org and follow the IRC on Twitter & Facebook.

Links
More information about the IRC's response to the Ebola Crisis in West Africa here.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141205/162672

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SOURCE International Rescue Committee