Electronic medical records

The importance of medical records in health care delivery has been recognised for a long time. Its relevance to patient care and health administration was documented by Florence Nightingale in 1873 a book entitled Notes on a Hospital. Health care is a continuous process in which data is progressively accumulated, therefore the record must function as a ‘pre-birth to post-death system that meets the requirements for any clinical setting-whether intensive care or primary care (Hammond 1993).