Standards and Guidelines for Electronic Medical Record Systems in ...

Clinical Decision Support
This refers to functions and processes that assist health workers in making clinical decisions to
enhance patient care.
EMR Systems are required to:
i. Highlight abnormal test results
ii. Alert provider of abnormal (outside the normal range)vital signs
iii. Alert provider if a known allergic drug is prescribed or if a known drug interaction is
likely to occur
iv. Provide reminders of recommended care due such as tests due and medication due
Order Entry and Prescribing
Order entry is the process by which a health care worker electronically enters instructions for the
care and treatment of patients under his or her care.
EMR systems are required to:
i. Allow providers to enter orders with required details
ii. Accept prescription orders
iii. Order and administer immunizations: capture dose, site given
iv. Manage referral orders with details of referring provider and referred-to provider.
Health Information and Reporting
One advantage of EMR systems is to improve the reporting and use of health information. To
support this function, EMR systems are required to:
i. Generate reports from clinical data to support quality improvement
ii. Generate aggregate reports for submission to health ministries and other consumers.
Supporting Security and Confidentiality
Health data security and confidentiality is fundamental to any EMR system to ensure that the
privacy of patient data is maintained. EMR systems are required to:
Standards and Guidelines for Electronic Medical Records Systems in Kenya 19