Medical recordkeeping, essential but overlooked aspect of quality of care in resource-limited settings

Abstract

Medical recordkeeping is essential to assuring quality health care. Records aid in the medical management of patients while serving epidemiological purposes. Medical recordkeeping is often inadequate in resource-limited settings, which threatens the quality of health care. In this study, by way of example, we make the case for increased attention to medical recordkeeping by illustrating how poor charting and archiving can threaten the quality of care. We make suggestions to improve the adequacy of medical recordkeeping by emphasizing recent technological innovations applied to resource-limited settings and the need to instil a culture of recordkeeping. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care; all rights reserved.