Lessons From the Design and Rollout of an Electronic Medical Record System for Cervical Cancer Screening in Rwanda.

BACKGROUND: In its commitment to delivering comprehensive women's cancer early detection services, the Rwanda Ministry of Health rolled out a new cervical cancer screening program. The paper-based medical record system that tracked clients at different points in the continuum of cervical cancer care had challenges with storing data, accessing client information for follow-up visits, and fragmenting information on individual clients. To support the rollout of the new cervical cancer screening program, a new electronic medical record system was designed and implemented to ensure clients were followed along the complete continuum of care. We document the development and implementation of the electronic medical record system and highlight challenges and lessons learned during implementation.

METHODS: Implementation took a participatory approach to ensure that the electronic medical record system was efficient in tracking clients along the continuum of care. At every stage, a wide range of stakeholders were engaged, including clinicians, program managers, and software developers. Health facility visits and conversations were conducted with health care providers and data managers to review the existing system and ensure that the design and development of the electronic record system were suitable for the context in which it would be used.

RESULTS: Cervical cancer screening sites are currently using the electronic medical record system to document client information and track women along the continuum of care to reduce loss to follow-up. The system has been rolled out to all newly activated screening sites as part of national scale-up.

CONCLUSION: Planning, collaboration, and adaptability were the key factors in this system's successful rollout and should be the foundation of future data systems development.