Medical records of over 22 million patients have been digitized across 8,100 health facilities in Kenya, thanks to the Open Source Medical Records System, which has been in use for 12 years. This advancement is seen as a significant boost to the Digital Health law enacted in October last year by President William Ruto, alongside other legislation aimed at accelerating the implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
A recent meeting, attended by over 200 technology experts from around 80 countries, discussed the future of digital health. The OpenMRS system, initially designed to support HIV programs in Kenya, is now ready for nationwide integration of additional health services.
Health Director General Dr. Patrick Amoth highlighted Kenya’s experience with OpenMRS. “For the last 12 years, we have implemented OpenMRS through various systems including Ampath Medical Records System (AMRS), KenyaEMR, and e-Hospital,” he said. “These OpenMRS-based Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) have evolved into crucial Health Information Systems that support public health programs across many institutions in Kenya and the region.”
Expansion and Funding
The system has been implemented in over 2,300 health facilities, funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). According to Dr. Amoth, services for over 90 percent of patients on Anti-retroviral therapy have been digitized using OpenMRS.
“Many facilities are now adopting KenyaEMR as facility-wide EMRs, which has become a solid foundation for Kenya’s health sector-wide digitization initiatives,” he noted at the opening of the five-day meeting in Nairobi.
Dr. Amoth described the system as an Open Innovation, ready for adoption across Africa. “The HIV program was an early adopter of OpenMRS, but now it’s time to expand,” he said.
Brace Potma, Director of Product at OpenMRS, echoed these sentiments. “Kenya, like other sub-Saharan countries, is moving towards UHC, and at the core of this transition is the digitization of health services,” Potma stated, emphasizing the importance of digitization in achieving UHC goals.
“Financial inclusion, for instance, will be achieved through Kenya’s social health insurance program, and person-centered care is crucial for UHC to succeed,” Brace Potma told People Daily yesterday. Person-centered care involves addressing a person’s overall health, not just their diseases. “UHC also means empowering individuals to access their data and take control of their own health,” she added. Potma, who enjoys working across various roles from Emergency Nursing to Product Management, emphasized the importance of digitizing all departments in health facilities to meet UHC goals.
Implementation in Kisumu County
In Kisumu County, six of the 200 facilities, or about 65 percent, are using KenyaEMR. Dr. Gregory Ganda, the County Health CEC, explained that KenyaEMR is mainly utilized in pharmacies and HIV clinics, given the region’s high burden of the disease. “The KenyaEMR was introduced to manage HIV, and it has expanded from there,” he noted.
Kisumu was also an early adopter of the Primary Care Network (PCN) program, which focuses on facility collaboration rather than competition. Dr. Ganda explained, “The PCN program requires a system that allows facilities to communicate and healthcare workers to monitor progress seamlessly. So, we adopted KenyaEMR, which has enabled most facilities in the county to operate around the clock.”
Dr. Davis Kimang, a support staff member for the CDC’s HIV Program in Kenya, shared that the goal is to ensure all 2,400 facilities have a digital system to support UHC in line with the Ministry of Health’s agenda. “In the last two months alone, 60 facilities have begun managing an integrated system where HIV patients are also screened for other diseases. The number of these facilities is growing daily,” he said.
