Experts seek mandatory adoption of electronic records in hospitals
August 18, 2026 12:03 am
Electronic Medical Records. Photo credit: Medix Online
Health and technology experts have urged the Federal Government to mandate adoption of Electronic Medical Records in hospitals across Nigeria, saying digital health records are critical to improving the quality and efficiency of patient care.
They explained that EMRs could improve the accuracy and availability of medical information while supporting better clinical decision-making, data management, and health system planning.
They made the call at MedVerge 2.0, a healthtech event organised by HelpMum Africa, in collaboration with Dobic Health and SmartMRS. The event brought together industry leaders, innovators, and change makers, who discussed the future of healthcare and how technology is making it happen.
PUNCH Healthwise reports that an EMR is an electronic record of health-related information on a patient or patients that can be used by authorised doctors and clinicians within one hospital or healthcare facility.
EMR stores medical history, diagnoses, medications, and test results, helping doctors track treatments, reduce errors, and manage clinic workflows.
Speaking at the sideline on healthtech interventions Nigeria should prioritise, the Convener of MedVerge, Dr. Abiodun Adereni, urged the Federal Government to establish clear standards and enforce the adoption of EMRs across public and private hospitals.
He said widespread adoption would eliminate delays in accessing patient information and difficulties in coordinating care among healthcare providers, and improve healthcare delivery.
“Nigeria should prioritise and ensure that healthcare records can be accessible to everybody and to hospitals. The government should make it mandatory for all healthcare facility providers to digitalise their process so that that will be achievable, so that healthcare records can be seamlessly exchanged between healthcare providers, and they can be able to have access to records too,” Adereni said.
Aside from EMR adoption, he said it was important for the country to drive health insurance uptake to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
Adereni, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HelpMum Africa & Dobic Health & SmartMRS, said, “One of the ways I think that should happen is for the Nigerian government to give more licences to people to venture into the health insurance business.
“And also for the Nigerian government to create a policy that will make it mandatory for everybody to have health insurance, and there should be a penalty attached. Health insurance is the factor that will help scale healthcare innovations.”
He also urged the FG to build on gains recorded in revitalising primary health centres across the country “so that healthcare can be accessible to people at the grassroots”.
On the future of AI in healthcare, he said, “I don’t see AI replacing doctors, but I see it making the work of clinicians faster and more efficient in diagnosis.”
Speaking on the idea behind MedVerge, Adereni said the event was an avenue to showcase all the work his companies have done in the previous year and emerging conversations in the healthcare space.
“MedVerge is a place for us to talk about emerging conversations in healthcare, like AI in healthcare and where we see AI in healthcare going in the next couple of years. MedVerge also provides that avenue to inspire the next generation of healthcare innovators and leaders on what is possible within the healthcare space,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chief Technology Officer, HelpMum Africa, Oluwasegun Oguntuase, said collaborations between doctors and technology experts are yielding results and leading to healthtech products that Nigerians, hospitals and professionals can use to deepen access to quality healthcare services.
“We’ve been working on how we can build things that health workers can use, mothers can use, and healthcare professionals can use. So, we’re basically merging healthcare and technology together effectively,” he said.
He said many hospitals are embracing EMRs through SmartMRS, adding that with widespread adoption, healthcare facilities across Nigeria would be able to work seamlessly when the government unifies healthcare data.
On the future of healthtech, Oguntuase explained that with digitised healthcare data, many things would align to create pathways for greater innovations.
“So, everything we currently have on paper is still data. We just need to figure out how we can convert them and digitise them. All the health records that are living on shelves, that are on one doctor’s or one hospital’s shelf or anywhere in the remote village, everything is data.
“We just need to figure out how we can remove this data from paper and digitise it. We just need to find out how we can digitise the data that we have and ensure that they are stored and organised properly,” he said.
Present at the event were the Founder and CEO, MobiHealth International, Dr. Funmi Adewara; Founder, Eight Medical, Dr. Ibukun Oni; Co-founder, Famasi Africa, Adeola Ayoola; the Director, Digital Innovations, PharmAccess, Chisom Amadi; and the Growth and Engagement Lead at Communique, Deborah Oguike, among others.
The highlight of the event was the award of N10 million to the winners of the HelpMum Africa CareCode Hackathon.
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