Abstract

Kamal Malaker

The advantages of personal medical records in health maintenance and cost reduction have been well studied, and they are recommended as an integral part of health care management. Several Electronic Personal Medical Record (ePMR) systems have been developed, but their popularity and utility falls far short of expectations. Cost, confidentiality, and logistics are all problematic in implementing an acceptable ePMR system. Out of necessity, Dominica, an island nation in the eastern Caribbean, developed a manual Personal Health Record (mPMR), which effectively overcame all of the above problems. Some refinement of its current state will make it the most useful and cost effective system in certain places and an initial step while moving into an electronic phase. Dominica’s system may be adopted by smaller nations or small communities (as a unit) in larger countries at a fraction of the high-tech cost and administrative hassle.