On August 16, 2025, Dobic Health launched SmartMRS, an AI-driven electronic medical records (EMR) platform designed to streamline patient care, held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
In Nigeria, patients often endure long waits to see a doctor. Accessing medical records can be challenging, as healthcare providers often scramble to find paper files, delays occur in obtaining test results, and doctors spend more time searching through records than treating patients.
SmartMRS addresses these issues by integrating patient registration, consultations, lab tracking, billing, and data storage into one intuitive system.
According to George Umoh, Admin (Growth/Partnerships/Marketing/Tech) at Dobic Health, the company is dedicated to advancing clinical care with technology-driven healthcare solutions that promote equitable access to healthcare across Africa.
A live look at SmartMRS
Guests were treated to a live demonstration of the SmartMRS EMR platform. Introducing it, Dr. Abiodun Adereni, Founder and CEO of Dobic Health, outlined the different modules of SmartMRS: consultation, imaging, laboratory, billing, inventory, and patient portal.
“With SmartMRS, you only need a few clicks to complete your consultation. You end up saving about 25 seconds for every minute with a patient. That time goes back into patient care, not paperwork,” says Dr. Ademide Animasaun, Medical Director at Dobic Health.
To support clinicians in diagnosis and decision-making, the SmartMRS EMR platform is equipped with two groundbreaking AI features: Diagnocare AI and the Clinical Vision Model.
The Diagnocare AI was showcased first, demonstrating how it supports doctors to process patient information, including symptoms, demographics, and contextual data, to suggest possible diagnoses and recommend relevant tests.
The Clinical Vision Model was then introduced as a complementary tool that can analyse uploaded X-rays or ultrasound images and generate clear explanations within seconds.
“This tool was built with thousands of information across 7 human physiological systems like the cardiovascular and respiratory system, and it leverages RAG pipeline LLMs for smart retrieval, contextual processing and structured output, making responses easier for the users to read and understand,” Adewuyi Ayomide, Lead AI Engineer at Dobic Health, says.
Dr. Adereni stressed that these innovations are not designed to replace doctors or radiologists but to assist them, reducing diagnostic bottlenecks and making their work faster and more accurate. He noted that many clinics in Nigeria rely on the same radiologists, which often delays diagnosis and treatment.
To address local challenges, SmartMRS was also built with a rapid onboarding process that allows facilities to go digital in just seven days. It further includes a unique patient ID system to prevent data mix-ups, even in cases where patients share similar names.
“The basic problem Nigeria has now is building more health structures to ensure people receive better care. This is a huge opportunity to create impact,” Dr. Adereni said.
The future of health information in a fragmented sector
A central highlight of the event was the panel session titled “EMR: The Future of Health Information in a Fragmented Healthcare Sector”
Dr Olawale Ogunlana underscored that healthcare is not just about treatment but about the experience.
“As healthcare providers, we’re selling an experience, and technology is a tool that enhances that experience,” he said.
He also noted the infrastructure gap in Nigeria’s healthcare sector, warning that some hospitals still lack basic digital tools.
“The healthcare system that we’re looking for is not so far away. We need to ensure that we’re working together, as we all have a role to play in building the ecosystem that’ll transform Nigeria’s healthcare”
Dr Angelica Obayi stressed SmartMRS’s advantage in addressing Nigeria’s connectivity issues, noting that many EMR platforms lose patient records during downtimes when editing. However, SmartMRS keeps that data despite power issues.
She also encouraged medical students to embrace SmartMRS’s AI tools to support their study of clinical cases.
Gideon Aniechi, Chief Technology Officer at 3CS Aquarah Limited, emphasised that cybersecurity starts with people rather than just systems. He highlighted that data security involves the interplay of people, processes, and technology.
“People are the first step of data security and the weakest link,” he said. Stressing this fact, he urged healthcare providers to prioritise data protection.
Lastly, Dr Ibukun Tunde-Oni, CEO of Eight Medical, drew attention to emergency care, describing it as “a fragmented space” that requires a collective effort to build an ecosystem that truly supports healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Nurturing the next generation
The event also featured a medical student hackathon organised by HelpMum Africa, another venture founded by Dr. Adereni. This session, hosted by Eniola Benson (Backend Developer) and Oluwaseun Odunsi (Head of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation), highlighted several innovative digital solutions for maternal health.
In first place, the Nekah App, a pregnancy analysis tool developed by Francisca Omeagu from the University of Lagos and her teammate, won a prize of ₦2 million. In second place, Mum’s Mind, a maternal care solution created by Feyisayo Abiodun and her team from Covenant University, received ₦1.5 million.
Finally, E-Mama Care, a support platform for expectant mothers developed by Michael Adekunle and his team from the University of Lagos, secured third place with a prize of ₦1 million.
A step towards smarter healthcare
With doctor-to-patient ratios as low as 1:4000 and average wait times stretching up to 146 minutes, according to Kate Okorie, Communications and Public Relations Officer for SmartMRS, Nigeria’s healthcare system faces deep structural challenges.
SmartMRS, with its AI-assisted diagnosis, secure data management, and adaptable design, aims to fill critical gaps in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
The launch highlighted the necessity for a smarter, more connected healthcare approach. With SmartMRS establishing itself as a key player in that transformation, the ecosystem is poised for change.
