The Digital Medicine and Patient Scan project will improve efficiency at the Nueva Vida Clinic.
The International Service Committee will apply for funding through a District Grant for a project called Digital Medicine & Patient Scan at the Nueva Vida Clinic that will provide two laptop computers, basic software, one digital pharmacy inventory program, a software program for patient intake and two digital scanners. The total cost of this project is approximately $4,300. The Nueva Vida Clinic has been located in a neighborhood of the city of Ciudad Sandino, one of the poorest urban areas in Nicaragua, for the past 25 years. It serves approximately 6,000 low income men, women and children annually. One-third of the clinic patients pay nothing for their doctors and dental visits, lab tests and medicines; other patients pay a subsidized cost of $3 - $5. An important part of the integral care is providing medicines. Since 1999 clinic staff have kept inventory of medicines manually, a tedious, imprecise and labor-intensive process. This project will implement a digital pharmacy inventory program using scanners to keep track of inventory and medicines dispensed from the pharmacy.
Although the Clinic has always kept records on its thousands of patients over the years, it is now required to keep updated records of patients names, ID numbers, telephones and addresses for its mandated monthly reporting. This process is slow and frustrating to staff and doctors alike. Using the scanner, this project will enable staff to scan patients' government-issued ID cards or birth certificates containing UPC scan code. The software and scanner will capture patients' identification and check for updates on their personal information needed to comply with reporting standards, thereby moving them along to health care providers quickly and efficiently.
The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise has conducted projects at the Nueva Vida Clinic for a number of years, including running a two-day outreach clinic during a club visitation, completing the construction of their education room and kitchen, providing medicines, covering the cost of staff vaccinations, providing binocular auto eye refractor equipment for eye tests, and funding twice annual dental check ups, extractions and fillings for 350 preschool and kindergarten children.
Although the Clinic has always kept records on its thousands of patients over the years, it is now required to keep updated records of patients names, ID numbers, telephones and addresses for its mandated monthly reporting. This process is slow and frustrating to staff and doctors alike. Using the scanner, this project will enable staff to scan patients' government-issued ID cards or birth certificates containing UPC scan code. The software and scanner will capture patients' identification and check for updates on their personal information needed to comply with reporting standards, thereby moving them along to health care providers quickly and efficiently.
The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise has conducted projects at the Nueva Vida Clinic for a number of years, including running a two-day outreach clinic during a club visitation, completing the construction of their education room and kitchen, providing medicines, covering the cost of staff vaccinations, providing binocular auto eye refractor equipment for eye tests, and funding twice annual dental check ups, extractions and fillings for 350 preschool and kindergarten children.
Photo courtesy of Nueva Vida Clinic.