New webpage: DHIS2 & Electronic Medical Records (EMRs)

Announcements - Annonces
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As an increasing number of countries have shown interest in digitalizing their health systems to the patient level, one question keeps coming up: Is DHIS2 an Electronic Medical Record system (or EMR)?

It’s understandable that there has been some confusion about this. Through Tracker programs, DHIS2 has become a well-established tool for capturing patient and client data, facilitating monitoring and follow up for a range of health programmes like immunization, antenatal care and HIV treatment. On the other hand, there are a number of functionalities associated with full-scale EMRs (like billing, queue management, and diagnostics) that DHIS2 does not natively support.

What we have seen in the real world, is that in addition to its established role as a digital registry, DHIS2 can play a useful role in the EMR space, by serving as a lightweight (or “mini”) facility-level EMR for primary healthcare. Particularly now, when funding for digital health has decreased dramatically and many countries need to do more with less, DHIS2 can provide a practical option (in the right contexts) that allows countries to build on the data systems and human resources they already have.

We’re happy to share our new DHIS2 & EMRs webpage where HISP UiO shares our perspective on this, including an overview of built-in features and functionalities that support EMR use cases, and some examples of how countries are already using DHIS2 for electronic patient data in the real world: https://dhis2.org/health/electronic-medical-records/

If you have comments, questions, or your own examples, please feel free to share them with us!

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A post was split to a new topic: Community Story: How a Youth Forum in Mgbala Agwa, Nigeria, tackled HIV/AIDS in 2001

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Thank you for clarifying this point. This question as it often comes up in discussions.

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I want certificate in dhis2

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Wow, DHIS 2 will eventually be integrated a into the health systems of many more countries, years from now

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This is such a crucial and timely question, especially as more countries work to digitalize their health systems with limited resources. I really appreciate that your answer doesn’t try to force a simple “yes or no,” but instead acknowledges the gray area, and I think that’s exactly where the reality lies.

From my own experience implementing DHIS2 in both Palestine and Jordan, I’ve seen firsthand how the system sits somewhere in the middle: it’s not a full-scale EMR, yet it’s far more capable than a basic registry, especially when Tracker programs are used effectively. Your framing of DHIS2 as a “lightweight” or “mini” EMR for primary healthcare is very accurate and resonates with what I’ve observed on the ground.

Thank you for sharing this post. It provides a clear and comprehensive overview, and the real-world examples make the picture even clearer. I’m looking forward to hearing more experiences and perspectives from others in the community.

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I completely agree! From our experience using DHIS2 in Egypt, it works really well as a lightweight / “mini” EMR, especially in remote health units with limited internet. It goes beyond a simple registry but isn’t a full EMR.

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@maxk

This is a timely discussion. We’ve successfully integrated DHIS2 with a national EHR system, and it’s now operating smoothly as a lightweight EMR layer for primary care. The process offered practical insights on interoperability, workflow alignment, and real-world implementation

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Thanks @ayman.tuffaha @rehabm and @Shapr0019 – it’s good to hear that how we describe DHIS2 resonates with what you have experienced in the real world.

We’d be really interested to hear more about the systems you’ve worked on in, including what the advantages and limitations of using DHIS2 in the EMR context have been, and how the users and health systems have benefitted from it. I would encourage each of your to create post to share your experiences.

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