Managing patient records in the eye unit

Providing excellent eye care requires excellent record keeping and data collection. Why? Because good record keeping ensures continuity of eye care, fulfils medico-legal requirements, and is professional! Good data collection, based on good record keeping, supports health management information systems (see article on page 50), hospital audit (page 48), scientific research (page 43) and provides accountability to donors. Types of records Paper records are the standard in most lowand middle-income countries. These records can be held by the clinic or held by the patient; the latter is helpful when the health centre is unable to hold printed records or when patients are very mobile and have a choice of health care centres to attend. Sometimes there is a combination of both, as explained in the Good Shepherd Hospital case study (see box below).