Health Information Management Services (Medical Records

The Health Information Management Services (HIMS) at Aga Khan University Hospital , Karachi (AKUH,K) offers comprehensive services for medical record keeping, maintenance and dissemination of patients' clinical information.

A medical record (MR) number (part of a sequencing format since 1984) is issued to the patient at his/her first visit to the hospital and is then referred to whenever the patient revisits the hospital. In this way, a comprehensive medical record is maintained throughout. It may be noted that the medical record is purged if the patient remains inactive for five years. In case, the patient revisits after being inactive, a new file is created bearing the patient's original medical record number.

To date HIMS have issued over 1.4 million MR numbers with an average increase of 300 per day. About 3000 medical record files are circulated by the department both within campus and also to offsite locations daily.

The department also provides expertise in Medical Coding, Medical Transcription and Document Imaging all of which are instrumental in maintaining an updated clinical record with emphasis on proficient patient care.