BahamasEMR+ Pilot Program

What BEMR is

BEMR is the localized version of OpenEMR, a widely used open-source electronic medical record platform. Information and communications technology (ICT) specialists on the IS4H Bahamas development team adapted the software for the Bahamian public health system, and in February 2025, BEMR launched in the Gambier and Adelaide clinics.

Over the past year, use of the software has spread to other DPH facilities, generating real-world feedback that has let the development team implement fixes and refinements suited to daily operations across the public health network.

Pilot background

“In February 2025, the Adelaide and Gambier Clinics began the journey toward digitization of medical encounters as they became pilot sites for the implementation of electronic medical records in the Department of Public Health’s network of clinics,” said Dr. Swann.

“The past 16 months have been a roller coaster of sorts, but have proven to be an invaluable proving ground for the platform. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of the staff at these two clinics, there was the development of automations within the electronic medical record that demonstrated the benefit of the platform in reducing the manual daily reporting load for nursing staff.”

On the ground

Gambier Clinic

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Nurse Brinique Jacques · Change Champion, Gambier Clinic

“The reality is, it does make the process easier. It does make registering patients, getting them to the screening areas, getting them to nurses to be interviewed, getting them to doctors and then to treatment — it does streamline the process.”

“BEMR is working 90% of the time. My experience is that it’s pretty straightforward, especially when it comes to communicating between healthcare professionals. The markdown is based on the items that are still missing — those are the things that make it a little bit harder to use.”

Nurse Jacques’ rating of BEMR today: 80%

Adelaide Clinic

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Nurse Atiya Deal · Change Champion, Adelaide Clinic

“Since the programme first started, it has been exceptional in certain areas, and in other areas we have some issues that we know they are still working on. Overall, the system has been working great.”

“It has allowed us to communicate with each other better, whether it be in Nassau or the Family Islands; data and recordkeeping have been great, and real-time experience with patients has been improved.”

Nurse Deal singled out patient data entry and recordkeeping as highlights of the application. “It has been much easier to accommodate patients, whether it be entering them into the system or finding and entering their data,” she said, adding that BEMR has improved time management for patients, doctors and nurses at Adelaide Clinic by decreasing patient wait times and speeding patient file retrieval, among other things.

Global alignment

Geneva, CH · 79th World Health Assembly · May 2026

Dr. Swann noted that in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 79th World Health Assembly in May 2026, leaders from Ministries of Health around the world addressed the role of electronic medical records and digital systems in improving access to health services — especially in small island developing states (SIDS) — and how the push for universal health coverage and universal access will only succeed with the responsible integration of electronic medical records.

“This alignment confirms that indeed The Bahamas remains on the cusp of global health improvements, and I am so proud that the small DPH clinics at Adelaide and Gambier have played such a critical role in this journey of digitizing health information in the public sector of The Bahamas,” Dr. Swann said.