UT-Knoxville Students Help HHI in Developing EMR Platform for International Surgical Missions

 

Humanitarian Health International is pleased to announce a newly formed collaboration with students from The University of Tennessee's College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

One of the major logistical hurdles faced by humanitarian medical organizations is the gathering of personal medical history and medical records on new patients. The initial vision underpinning HHI has always included the development of a simple but effective records system. We were given the opportunity to present our problem and propose the solution we envision to students in Dr. David Banks’ COSC 400 class. And we were very pleased when several senior students agreed to collaborate with us in the creation of an efficient, comprehensive electronic medical records software package for use in humanitarian surgical settings.

The electronic medical record (EMR) we are now developing will be designed to streamline the process of obtaining comprehensive medical histories of new patients.  The EMR will include an iOS based app for iPad–iPhone mobile devices that will be easy for HHI volunteers and staff to operate and understand. Our main hope for EMS is to create a streamlined method that will enable volunteers with no medical training, to begin new patient intake procedures. The EMR app would display a basic medical history questionnaire, both in English as well as the native language of the patient.  EMR software would guide HHI volunteers according to an algorithmically determined appropriate set of questions that subtend the history of the patient.  Patients would then be guided to a second station and have a physical examination completed by a medically trained volunteer.  Each patient’s information would then be compiled and shared to other iPads on site, which would give the anesthesiologist and surgeons a complete record of the patient’s history to enable them to gauge the safest, and most appropriate procedures.  EMS will include videos explaining surgery, anesthesia, and recovery to the patients in their own language.  We are hopeful that our collaborative effort with Dr. Banks's class will streamline HHI’s efforts to provide care.

We are excited to have specialists from other fields volunteering their expertise to advance the HHI mission. And we’re absolutely thrilled to see the high levels of enthusiasm the UT students express.

Ringing in the New Year following HHI’s First Fundraiser at the Casual Pint

               What an energizing night at the “Casual Pint” several evenings ago! Humanitarian Health International teamed up with local craft beer market establishment, the “Casual Pint” on December 27^th to host its first support and fundraising event. While the seemingly un-ending walls of beers from around the country beckoned to the beer aficionado in us all, there was a palpable excitement in the air as we had the opportunity to discuss HHI, our mission and goals, with all those in attendance from the greater Oak Ridge-Knoxville area, many very long-time friends. Not only are we so grateful to report that the evening greatly exceeded our expectations for raising donations, but, equally if not more impressive, was that we found excited friends and community members willing to donate their own professional services to HHI’s cause. Thank you so much! Here’s to an exciting new year – good cheer and health to all.

 

-- Humanitarian Health International

Casual Pint/HHI Night
 

David and long-time friends, the Powells

HHI Rulz!!

Thanks for all the support!



Big Day

 

Today marks a big day for Humanitarian Health!  With the New Year upon us, we purchased our first plane ticket as an Organization  With the funds raised at The Casual Pint and through other donations, we have accomplish our goals for raising sufficient funds for supplies and travel for our first trip, and could not be happier. We will be going down to Haiti with One Vision International, a nonprofit based out of Knoxville Tennessee. David will be involved in a general medicine clinic as well as making contacts with local providers for future surgical trips. We're very excited about this opportunity and very excited to be going to Haiti.  

John and Amy at One Vision International have been a huge help to us during the time we have been setting up HHI.  They have even been generous enough to allow us to visit their office and see the day-to-day operations and given us a large donation of surgical supplies that they will not be using in their medical clinic.  We are really excited about continuing to work with them in the future and being involved with the trip in February.

Heidi and Phoebe cataloging surgical donations