A model for the introduction of Ayurvedic and Allopathic electronic health records in Sri Lanka

Fully integrated electronic health records EHR provide healthcare providers and patients access to records across a health care system and promise efficient and effective provision of health care. However, fully integrated records have proven to be very expensive and difficult to establish. The only EHR’s to have been developed solely accommodate Western medicine events. These barriers impact on the introduction of EHR’s in Sri Lanka, where health budgets are already stretched and Ayurvedic medicine is routinely practiced alongside Allopathic medicine. This article identifies requirements for EHR in the Sri Lankan context and advances a model for the introduction of EHR’s that particularly suits that context. The model is justified by drawing insights and experiences with EHR in Western nations