The Borno State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (BOSCHMA), has urged the over two dozen hospitals to adopt and extend electronic patient records to wards, laboratories, pharmacies, theatres and specialist units across the state.

The agency lamented the limited use of the system by restricting its benefits.to thousands of patients.

The agency raised the concerns about the incomplete reimbursement claims and service delivery problems, including shortages of essential medicines, inadequate equipment and staff absenteeism in some facilities.

BOSCHMA’s Executive Secretary, Dr Saleh Kaza, disclosed this at the agency’s third-quarter performance review meeting with the Social Health Fund stakeholders held in Maiduguri on Saturday.

Kaza added that wider use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) would improve access to patients’ medical histories, reduce repeated documentation and help address delays associated with missing folders.

He declared that the electronic system in the health sector remains underused for more than four decades in the state.

Kaza noted that implementation remained largely confined to BOSCHMA clinics in several facilities, leaving the system’s full potential unrealised.

He, therefore urged hospital managements to make electronic records available across service points so that doctors, nurses and other authorised personnel could update patient information as care progressed.

According to him, the system was designed to be user-friendly and accessible through computers and smartphones.

For the patients moving between hospital departments, the proposed expansion is intended to make their records more readily available and reduce the need to document the same information repeatedly.

However, the meeting account did not specify how many facilities had extended the system beyond BOSCHMA clinics or provide a timetable for wider implementation.

Incomplete claims could delay reimbursement
Kaza identified gaps in electronic claims submissions, saying some providers failed to indicate whether patients received inpatient or outpatient care.

The Executive Secretary added that other claims lacked diagnosis details, despite the availability of the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11), within the system to support diagnosis recording.

He warned that incomplete documentation could affect claims processing and reimbursement to healthcare facilities.

Medical directors and hospital managers, he said, should ensure staff received adequate training and updated electronic records consistently.

BOSCHMA’s Director of Service Quality Assurance, Dr Inna Alimi, identified inadequate medical equipment, shortages of essential drugs, staff absenteeism and early clinic closures as challenges affecting some facilities.

She called for stronger supervision, staff orientation, timely claims submissions and compliance with approved healthcare service packages.

Alimi acknowledged the improvements in electronic drug dispensing and patient satisfaction at some facilities, while urging others to address operational weaknesses.