Lake Atitlan Clinics
Project Description
What:
This project will enable 5 clinics in Guatemala to effectively share their patient records. Our partnering institution for this project is the University of Virginia School of Medicine. The UVA School of Medicine will upgrade other facilities of the clinics as the Gnosis Medical Project enhances their medical record-keeping capabilities.
Where:
The 5 clinics are located in villages surrounding Lake Atitlan in southwest Guatemala. This is an area of extreme poverty, and the people are of primarily Mayan descent. According to a physician familiar with the region, Mayan women have the highest mortality rate for pregnant women in the world. This area was devastated by Hurricane Stan in 2005.
Why:
Many area patients are reluctant to travel to the clinic that best meets their health needs because of language issues. Although Mayan, the people of that region speak many different dialects. On the north side of Lake Atitlan, for example, people speak Kachikal, and on the south side, Tzutujil. Too often in these circumstances, when a woman goes into labor she does not want to travel across the lake to the clinic as she does not speak their dialect. This is a major factor in the high mortality rate because, when complications arise, it is often too late for the appropriate treatment to be provided.
How:
The Gnosis Medical Project will provide laptop computers, fingerprint scanners, and training for clinic personnel to implement and use Four Corners Medical System for medical record-keeping. This will enable each of the 5 Attitlan clinics to maintain a common database of patients in the area and minimize communication problems as the records will be kept in Spanish -- the common language for medical providers.
Expected Results:
With improved patient histories, physicians should be able to make better diagnoses and prescribe better treatment. Perhaps most significantly, better records will enable clinics to identify pregnancy complications before they reach the state where the life of the mother and child are at risk. Measurable results will include a reduction in the mortality rate of pregnant mothers.
Resources Needed:
In order to provide the necessary equipment, training, monitoring and follow-up for each clinic, completion of the project will require $35,000.00. Training of clinic personnel will take place immediately in conjunction with the equipment, while monitoring and follow-up to ensure that clinics are utilizing the system to their patients' fullest advantage will occur over the subsequent 12 months.
Please send your tax-deductible contributions to:
The Gnosis Medical Project
P.O. Box 6817
Charlottesville, VA 22906