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Perinatal Care: ZEPRS

November 7th, 2008 | posted by gmc

Photo of clinicians learning to use the new electronic patient referral system.The Zambia Electronic Perinatal Record System (ZEPRS) is being used by clinics and the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia to improve patient care. The University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Center for Research in Women's Health (CRWH), RTI, and the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) developed ZEPRS with local medical expertise and project engagement from the Lusaka Urban Health District, Central Board of Health and funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Key Objectives

ZEPRS has been designed to improve maternal and perinatal outcomes by:

  1. Improving perinatal care to women and postnatal care to neonates by:
    1. Promoting adherence to good standard of care practices
    2. Identifying and document potential medical/ obstetrical problems so that effective therapies can be administered
    3. Improving communication and referrals among providers
    4. Enhancing monitoring and evaluation of outcomes, clinics, and providers
  2. Improving efficiency, completeness, accuracy of documentation and reporting

Major Features and Components

ZEPRS achieves these objectives by providing the following:

  • An electronic patient record system with patient record database shared among facilities
  • A system that guides clinicians through the Zambian standard of care
  • Intelligent rules that alert clinicians to problems and recommend patient referral when appropriate
  • Standard & ad hoc reporting for supportive supervision, surveillance, analysis
  • An electronic-first system use by clinicians during the course of patient care
  • An electronic referral system to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of referrals

ZEPRS components include a high-speed point-to-point voice and data wireless network that interconnects facilities; wired and wireless networks within facilities; a data center managed by CIDRZ, a local NGO; and an electronic perinatal record system with integrated patient referral system.

Recent Enhancements and Ongoing Work

RTI has continued working to enhance the ZEPRS software based on feedback from clinicians, and has adapted the software to meet several other needs. Recent enhancements include:

  • an automated interface to a Laboratory Information Managment System (LMIS) so that test results can be updated in patient records automatically twice daily.
  • an easy-to-install version that can be used in facilities independent of any network connectivity, and that transfers data and synchronizes records automatically when connectivity is present.
  • a version designed to improve managment of pharmaceutical supplies and that transmits data over an existing mobile phone network.
  • A version designed to help manage malaria indoor residual spraying operations (IRSA).

ZEPRS is Free and Open Source Software

ZEPRS has been developed using open source software and can operate in networked or stand-alone applications. ZEPRS Zcore™ architecture permits the software to be adapted to other environments and applications. ZEPRS is free and open source software, and is available under a royalty-free license.

ZEPRS Project and Demonstration Sites

More information about ZEPRS is available in the Zcore Documentation book. You may also take a tour of ZEPRS features or view the ZEPRS Demo with the username "demo" and password "demo11" (remove quotes).

More Information about ZEPRS

  • ZEPRS on Wikipedia
    ZEPRS background, history, major components, current status, and references.
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