Bending the Cost Curve in Implementing Electronic Medical Record Systems: Lessons Learnt from Kenya

Through a CDC co-operative agreement, the Futures Group Kenya Health Management Information Systems (KE HMIS) project has been deploying electronic medical record (EMR) systems throughout Kenya. During 2013, our implementing team rolled out EMRs in 170 health facilities bringing the project closer to meeting the target of 300 deployments by 2015. With inherent challenges of setting up software systems coupled with limited resources, there is a need for innovative solutions to reduce the cost of EMR deployment1.