The Digital Health Activity, a six-year USAID-funded initiative aimed at realizing enhanced data use in programmatic decision making through complete digitization of Ethiopia’s health system, has been expanding access to new technology across the sector. It is critical, however, that these tools are expanded in such a way that allows them to coordinate with each other. Such interoperability further enhances availability and use of evidence which can be used to inform health program direction. 

The integration of eAPTS, a facility-based pharmaceutical supply system, with the electronic medical records (EMR) system, which digitizes patient medical records, has greatly simplified and expedited the process of recording patient information and generating aggregate reports in hospital dispensary units.

Previously, a pharmacy had to manually go through each prescription, meticulously jotting down the details of the medication in a ledger book. This process was time-consuming and prone to errors. Additionally, every month, the dispenser had to spend a week aggregating the sales per sponsor and generate a report to be sent to the finance department.With the implementation of eAPTS and its integration with the EMR system, this task has become much easier and instantaneous. The register has been digitized and the dispenser can now access an automated sales report on eAPTS, which contains aggregated data.

According to Mahlet Dejene, a Pharmacy Coordinator at Sabian General Hospital who had previously spent more than a week preparing the Community-Based Health Insurance report, eAPTS has drastically reduced the time and effort required. Now, she can export the data in seconds, review the report for a minute, and promptly send it to the responsible person. The overall task that used to take more than a week to complete is now finalized in less than five minutes.

The implementation of eAPTS and its integration into the EMR system has not only streamlined the recording and reporting process, but also improved efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness when it comes to managing patient information and insurance-related transactions in a hospital dispensary units.

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