—Dr Zunaid Kazi—

How QR codes can transform Bangladesh’s medical records. This is the first part of a two-part series on healthcare as I watched my octogenarian mother shuffle between doctors, clutching a bag full of prescriptions and medical reports, I realized how close we’d come to disaster. If not for her eagle-eyed children, she would have taken a newly prescribed medication that dangerously interacted with her existing treatments. This near miss isn’t unique to my family; it’s a daily reality for countless Bangladeshis.

This systemic challenge came up during a recent conversation with Dr Chris Adkins, a US-trained family physician practicing in Dhaka for nearly a decade (and, incidentally, my personal physician). He proposed an elegant solution to address this critical gap in Bangladesh’s healthcare system.

We agreed that the biggest obstacle isn’t access to doctors or medicine but comprehensive, accessible medical data. Records in Bangladesh remain largely paper-based and siloed. Patients often rely on their memory when transitioning between doctors, and physicians frequently lack access to a patient’s complete medical history. The result? Misdiagnoses, unnecessary tests, and inefficiencies that cost lives.

Recognizing firsthand how the absence of digital medical records affects both doctors and patients, Dr Adkins suggested a surprisingly simple yet innovative approach: A QR-code-based system to address Bangladesh’s near-total lack of digital medical data.

As we launched into an intense brainstorming session, we had an epiphany. This was more than just a quick fix; the data we would collect could become the seed of a massive digital health breakthrough in Bangladesh that could spawn AI-powered healthcare solutions tailor-made for Bangladesh’s unique challenges.

A SIMPLE, SCALABLE STARTING POINT

Here’s how this works: A patient walks into a doctor’s office for a consultation. Following their usual routine, the doctor writes out the prescription and medical notes on paper — just as they’ve always done. (Yes, we’ll still have to contend with Bangla handwriting and doctors’ notoriously illegible scrawl, but AI is getting better at deciphering even the most cryptic prescriptions.)

The transformation happens next. Instead of just folding that paper and tucking it away, the patient opens a mobile app and scans the document. In that simple act, they’ve created their digital health record.

When they visit their next doctor, they no longer have to struggle to recall past treatments or sift through old documents. They simply show a QR code in their app. The new doctor scans this code and instantly sees the patient’s medical history. As they add their own prescriptions and notes, the patient scans these too — building a continuously updated, lifelong medical record.

This system requires doctors to make zero behaviour changes while giving patients easy access to their medical records. It’s simple, intuitive, and works with what people already have: mobile phones.

WHY THIS WORKS: A low-barrier entry to digital healthcare

The beauty of this approach lies in how easily it fits into existing healthcare practices. Doctors don’t need to change how they work, they simply continue writing prescriptions as they always have. Patients have no complex data entry, no forms to fill, and no complicated software to learn. They just need to scan their documents with their phones.

Even more importantly, this system works without constant internet access. The QR code stores essential data locally and syncs whenever connectivity is available perfect for Bangladesh’s infrastructure realities. And we’re not asking people to adopt unfamiliar technology. QR codes are already becoming part of daily life in Bangladesh, from mobile payments to product information.

This is the kind of solution that grows naturally. As patients and doctors experience the convenience of having their medical histories readily available, they will naturally share their experiences with others.

One doctor, one patient, one clinic at a time — that’s how meaningful change happens in healthcare.

THE IMMEDIATE BENEFITS

This QR code-based system is more than just digitizing papers. It’s the beginning of a fundamental change in how healthcare in Bangladesh works today. With a patient’s complete medical history readily available, doctors can make informed decisions rather than relying on educated guesses. Picture a diabetic patient visiting a new specialist — instead of trying to remember years of blood sugar readings and medication changes, they can share their complete history in seconds.

No more duplicate tests, no more lost prescriptions, and no more dangerous drug interactions. A patient won’t need to repeat expensive blood work just because their previous results are sitting in another clinic across Dhaka. An elderly patient won’t risk taking conflicting medications prescribed by different doctors. Most importantly, it puts patients in charge of their own health records, making it easy to carry their complete medical history from one doctor to the next.

The beauty of this solution lies in its simplicity: It offers immediate, practical benefits without requiring massive infrastructure changes. For the first time, urban professionals and rural villagers can have the same control over their medical information — a small but crucial step toward healthcare equality in Bangladesh.

JUST THE BEGINNING

While these immediate benefits are compelling, they’re just the first step. By building this secure, accessible digital health record, we’re laying the groundwork for the real revolution: AI-powered healthcare designed specifically for Bangladesh’s needs.

On Wednesday  AI healthcare models are trained on Western data, making them less effective for South Asian patients. Our disease patterns, medication responses, and health risks are fundamentally different. For AI to truly serve Bangladesh, it must understand our people, our environment, and our medical realities.

The technology matters because it can save Bangladeshi lives through better prediction and prevention. What if AI could identify diabetes risk in patients at much lower BMIs than Western standards suggest, catching the disease before complications set in?

What if it could predict dengue outbreaks in specific Dhaka neighbourhoods, allowing targeted prevention? What if it could help rural health workers provide life-saving maternal care by detecting high-risk pregnancies early? These are not futuristic fantasies — they are real possibilities, but only if we start laying the groundwork today.

In part two, we’ll map the path to building AI healthcare that speaks Bangladesh’s medical language and how our nation’s strengths in grassroots healthcare, technology, and public-private partnerships can make it happen.

The first step is simple. But the destination? A revolution.

——————————————–

Dr Zunaid Kazi is an AI expert with 30 years of experience, including developing healthcare solutions. A longtime advocate for Bangladesh’s technological advancement, he leads Knowtomation, an AI solutions company.