Vision
In just a few short years, Global Medical Brigades has grown into a secular, international network of nearly 30 university clubs throughout the U.S. and Canada that travel to developing countries to provide health care in communities without regular access otherwise. The mission of Global Medical Brigades is to provide a holistic model for sustainable health care in underserved villages by conducting preliminary needs assessments, sponsoring referrals to permanent hospitals for those with needs beyond our capability, tracking patient medical records, and improving the water, sanitation, and overall public health infrastructure.
Having already seen over 40,000 patients this year alone, it has become imperative that Global Medical Brigades develop and implement a data informatics system to electronically store, organize, retrieve, and analyze patient records as well as inventory the medications and medical supply donations vital to providing care. The system will consist of a central database securely housed in the United States on which all records will be kept and made accessible only to authorized individuals. On the day of a medical brigade in a given community, a local area network connection will be created at the brigade site to link portable computers at each of the brigade stations (in-take, triage, consultation, and pharmacy). All patient identifications, measurements, histories, symptoms, consultation notes, prescriptions, and referrals will be documented with this system.
The electronic patient record system will not only help to improve the standard and efficiency of care on medical brigades, but will also reduce the chance of error by making handwriting interpretation obsolete and providing access to a patient’s medical history. The system will also allow immediate and continued access to patient records to track patients needing follow-up care or referrals and enable analysis to better understand the populations we’re serving and thus better guide future efforts to improve their quality of life.