AL-Care medical information system: developing local experience

Medical information systems (MIS) are gaining acceptance in developed countries, and starting to diffuse in some developing countries, due to pressure exerted on improving the quality of health care for their societies, while containing health care cost on one side, and market pressure on the other side. The purpose of this paper is to report on the first Bahraini experience, with respect to a medical information system and its implications on the medical practice in Bahrain Defence Force Hospital (State of the Arabian Gulf), starting from the assessment methodologies, development and implementation strategy, user evaluation and return value. There are several reasons why the Bahraini experience is unique and different from the western world, among these are the assessment study, implementation strategy, training and support from both clinicians and management, in addition to the culture factors.