I’m working on a project for an international customer base, initially supporting the Spanish and English languages. Having worked on international projects before, I knew that I’d have to make some accommodations, but I was still, in the 21st century, surprised at how un-automatic the process still was to make it all work. The surprises I’m seeing are now less frequent, but I no longer trust that I won’t find another around the next corner.
The project
I’m developing a small patient automation system (the piClinic) for use in limited resource clinics in developing countries. While there is no shortage of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, they tend to work best in well-funded and well-supported clinics and hospitals. For everyone else (which is a rather large population) there are virtually no suitable systems, especially for small clinics in countries that do not (yet) need to support the comprehensive (and complex) data collection and reporting requirements for health information in the U.S.
The piClinic system is designed to fill the gap between zero automation and complete EHR systems until that gap can be closed or the clinic grows out of it and becomes able to install a more full-featured system. Given that much of the developing world speaks a language other than English, internationalization is something that needs to be built in from the start and not just bolted on as an afterthought.
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