Adoption of Electronic Medical Records in Tertiary Health Care Centres: A Survey of Federal Medical Centres in South-South Nigeria

Oyinkepreye Sawyer-George; Jerry Eyerinmene Friday

doi:10.51983/ajist-2023.13.1.3481

Authors

Oyinkepreye Sawyer-George Polytecnic Librarian, Bayelsa State Polytechnic, Aleibiri, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Jerry Eyerinmene Friday Librarian, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51983/ajist-2023.13.1.3481

Keywords:

Adoption, Electronic Medical Records, Medical Centre, Federal Medical Centre, Bayelsa State, Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the adoption of electronic medical records in Federal Medical Centres in Bayelsa and Delta States of Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. One hundred and nineteen staff of Departments of Health Records and Information Management of both medical centres participated in the study. Online questionnaire was used for data collection. One hundred and thirty-four soft copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the respondents via personal whatsapp accounts of the respondents and whatsapp platforms of the Health Information Managers Association of Nigeria and the Association of Health Records and Information Management Practitioners of Nigeria to which the respondents belonged. One hundred and nineteen questionnaires were properly completed, retrieved and found usable for data analysis. This produced a response rate of 88.81 %. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation. Findings showed that the extent of adoption of electronic medical records in the medical centres was low; benefits derived from adoption, which were not perceived much differently by the sampled staff, were enhanced healthcare service delivery/access to medical information, saving of records storage space/cost of medical care, speeding up of treatment process, improvement of confidentiality/security of medical information/timely communication among medical practitioners, reduction of treatment error risk/ patients’ mortality rate/patients’ waiting time and facilitation of clinical decision making; challenges encountered in adoption, which were seen much differently by the records personnel, were poor internet connectivity or network, high cost of ICT equipment, low technical expertise, lack of funds/training/uniform standards and poor power supply.

References

Abiodun, O. O., Ikonne, C. N., & Madukoma, E. (2021). Institutional support and use of electronic health records by medical doctors in teaching hospitals in South-West Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Library and Information Science, 9(4), 149. DOI:10.14662/ijalis2021.120

Adedeji, P., Irinoye, O., Ikono, R., & Komolafe, A. (2018). Factors influencing the use of electronic health records among nurses in a teaching hospital in Nigeria. Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries, 12(2), 1. Retrieved from http://www.jhidc.org.

Adegbore, A. M., & Omowumi, A. T. (2021). Factors influencing electronic medical record systems success in selected tertiary health-care facilities in South-West Nigeria. Information Impact: Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 11(4), 14. DOI: https://dx.org/10.4314/iijikm.v12i1.2.

Agbese, F. A. O. & Ikonne, C. N. (2021). Electronic health records (EHRs) use and quality healthcare delivery by physicians in tertiary hospitals in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 5027, 1. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/5027.

Akanbi, M. O., Ocheke, A. N., Agaba, P. A., Daniyam, C. A., Agaba, E. I., Okeke, E. N., & Ukoli, C. O. (2012). Use of electronic health records in sub-Saharan Africa: Progress and challenges. Journal of Medicine in the Tropics, 14(1), 1. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25243111.

Al-Aswad, A. M. (2015). Issues concerning the adoption and usage of electronic medical records in Ministry of Health Hospitals in Saudi Arabia. (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation). The University of Sheffield. Retrieved from core.ac.uk›download›pdf.

Alghamdi, A. S. M. (2015). Factors associated with the implementation and adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in Saudi Arabia. (Unpublished Ph. D. dissetation). The State University of New Jersey. Retrieved from rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu › rutgers-lib › PDF › play.

Alsahafi Y. (2012). Studies of EHR implementation and operation in different countries with particular reference to Saudi Arabia. Massey University. Retrieved from mro.massey.ac.nz › handle.

Amery, H. (2021, Feb. 9). Momentous innovation at FMC Abeokuta, as the hospital launches electronic medical record system. Newsflagship. Retrieved from newsflagship.com › Health.

Berner, E.S., Detmer, D. E., & Simborg, D. (2005). Will the wave finally break? A brief view of the adoption of electronic medical records in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 12(1), 3-7. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › pmc › articles › PMC543824.

Boonstra, A., & Broekhuis, M. (2010). Barriers to the acceptance of electronic medical records by physicians from systematic review to taxonomy and interventions. BMC Health Services Research, 10(1), 231. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20691097.

DesRoches, C. M., Campbell, E. G., Rao, S. R., Donelan, K., Ferris, T. G., Jha, A., et al., (2008). Electronic health records in ambulatory care: A national survey of physicians. N Engl. J. Med., 359(1), 50-60. DOI: http://dx.DOI.org/10.1056/nejmsa0802005.

Devkota, B., & Devkota, A. (2013). Electronic health records: Advantages of use and barriers to adoption. Health Renaissance, 11(3), 181-184. DOI: 10.3126/hren.v11i3.9629.

Dick, R., & Steen, E. (Eds.). (I991). The corpus of recorded information. In essentials of clinical informatics.

Elikwu, I. M., Igbokwe, A. C., & Emokhare, G. (2020). Effect of electronic health information system on medical records management in public healthcare institutions. Unizik Journal of Business, 3(1), 43. DOI: 10.36108/unizikjb/0202.30.0140

Folorunsho-Francis, A. (2020, Jan. 5). FMC introduces e-medical record to replace paper cards and files. Punch. Retrieved from https://healthwise.punchng.com/fmc-introduces-e-medical-record-to-replace-paper-cards-files.

Gong, J. G. (2011). Realizing the medical e-vision vision, electronic medical record integration/interoperability is imperative. Retrieved from https://www.2cm.com.

Hamade, N. (2017). Improving the use of electronic medical records in primary health care: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4420. Retrieved from http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4420.

Hasanain, R., Vallmuur, K., & Clark, M. (2014). Progress and challenges in the implementation of electronic medical records in Saudi Arabia: A systematic review. Health Informatics- An International Journal, 3(2), 1. DOI: 10.5121/hiij.2014.3201.

Hassibian, M. R. (2013). Electronic health records acceptance and implementation in developing countries: Challenges and barriers. Razavi International Journal of Medicine, 1. DOI: 10.17795/RIJM15077.

Häyrinen, K., Saranto, K., & Nykänen, P. (2008). Definition, structure, content, use and impacts of electronic health records: A review of the research literature. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 77(5), 291-304. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2007.09.001.

Hillestad, R., Bigelow, J., Bower, A., Girosi, F., Meili, R., Scoville, R., & Taylor, R. (2005). Can Electronic medical record systems transform health care? Potential health benefits, savings, and costs. Health Affairs, 24(5), 1103-1117. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.24.5.1103.

Hydari, M., Telang, R. & Marella, W. (2014). Saving patient Ryan-Can advanced electronic medical records make patient care safer? Retrieved from http://papers.ssm.com//sol3/paperscfm?abstractid= 2503702.

Jahanbakhsha,M., Tavakoli, N., & Mokhtari, H. (2011). Challenges of EHR implementation and related guidelines in Isfahan. Procedia Computer Science, 3, 1199. DOI: 10.1016/j.procs.2010.12.194.

Jha, A. K., Doolan, D., Grandt, D., Scott, T., & Bates, D. W. (2008). The use of health information technology in seven nations, International Journal of Medical Information, 77, 848-54.

Jogo, A. A., & Achua, J. K. (2017). Human resource management and clinical productivity in Nigerian federal medical centres. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), 19(7), 63-67. DOI: 10.9790/487X-1907026367

Juma, R., Abila, J., & Oluoch, J. (2020). Electronic medical records software types in use within Kisumu County. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, 5(5), 1989-1990. Retrieved from https://ijisrt.com/assets/upload/files/IJISRT20MAY3 95.pdf.

Khan, S., & Hoque, A. (2015). Towards development of health data warehouse: Bangladesh perspective, in Proc. 2nd International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Communication Technology (ICEEICT), 1-6. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-23258-4_36.

Lee, J., Kuo, Y. F., & Goodwin, J. S. (2013). The effect of electronic medical record adoption on outcomes in US hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 13(1), 5-6. Retrieved from https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6963-13-39.

Mathioudakis, A., Rousalova,I., Gagnat, A., Saad, N., & Hardavella, G. (2016). How to keep good clinical records. Breathe (Sheff), 12(4), 369-373. DOI: 10.1183/20734735.018016.

Medical Protection Society (2017). The importance of keeping good medical records. Junior Doctor, 7(1), 5. Retrieved from https://www.medicalprotection.org/southafrica/junior-doctor/volume-7-issue-1/the-importance-of-keeping-good-medical-records.

Miller, R. H., & Sim, I. (2004). Physicians’ use of electronic medical records: Barriers and solutions. Health Affairs, 23(2), 116-26. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.23.2.116.

Ministry of Health. (1995). Nigerian national health policy. Federal Government of Nigeria.

Mohamamad, A., & Yunus, A. M. (2017). Technology acceptance in healthcare service: A case of electronic medical records (ERM). International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(11), 863. DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v7-i11/3522.

Msiska, K. E. M., Kumitawa, A., & Kumwenda, B. (2017). Factors affecting the utilisation of electronic medical records system in Malawian central hospitals. Malawi Medical Journal, 29(3), 44-45. DOI: 10.4314/mmj.v29i3.4.

Nworgu, B. G. (2015). Educational research: Basic issues and methodology. (3rd Ed.). University Trust Publishers.

Ogbonna, M. A., Oluwafemi, O. M., & Ojo, P. O. (2020). Acceptance and barrier of electronic health records in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. European Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 5(6), 171. DOI: http://dx.org/10.46827/ejsss.v5i6.960.

Osagie commissions. (2017, Feb. 1). Osagie commissions ‘first-in-Nigeria’ Keffi FMC’s electronic medical record facility. Dailytrust. Retrieved from https://dailytrust.com/osagie-commissions-first-in-nigeria-keffi-fmcs-electronic-medical-record-facility.

Palabindala, V., Pamarthy, A., & Jonnalagadda, N. R. (2016). Adoption of electronic health records and barriers. Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 6, 32643. DOI: http://dx.DOI.org/10.3402/jchimp.v6.32643.

Pantuvo, J. S., Naguib, R. N. G., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2011). Towards implementing a nationwide electronic health record system in Nigeria. International Journal of Healthcare Delivery Reform Initiatives, 3(1), 53. DOI:10.4018/jhdri.2011010104.

Porter, M. (2013). Adoption of Electronic Health Records in the United States. Kaiser Permanente International. Retrieved from http://xnet.kp.org/kpinternational/docs/Adoption%20of%20Electronic%20Health%20Records%20in%20the%20United%20States.pdf.

Ross, J., Stevenson, F., Lau, R., & Murray, E. (2016). Factors that influence the implementation of e- health: A systematic review of systematic reviews (an update). Implementation Science, 11, 146. DOI: 10.1186/s13012-016-0510-7.

Schiff, G., David, W., & Bates, M. (2010). Can electronic clinical documentation help prevent diagnostic errors? New English Journal of Medicine, 362(1), 1066-1069. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp0911734.

Seymour, T., Frantsvog, D., & Graeber, T. (2012). Electronic health records (EHRs). American Journal of Health Sciences, 3(3), 201. DOI: 10.19030/ajhs.v3i3.7139.

Shuaib, W., Suarez, J. M., Romero, J. D., Pamello, C. D., Alweis, R., Khan, A. A., Shah, S. R., Shahid, H., Pierre-Charles, S. B., & Sanchez, L. R. (2016). Transforming patient care by introducing an electronic medical records initiative in a developing country. Health Informatics Journal, 22(4), 976. DOI: 10.1177/1460458215589204.

Tsai, J., & Bond, G. (2007). A comparison of electronic records to paper records in mental health centers. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 20(2), 136-143. DOI: 10.1093/intqhc/mzm064.

Umezurike, I. S. (2021). Exploring the adoption of electronic medical records in primary health care centres inCalabar municipality: The challenges and prospects of e-governance. Journal of Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa (JGGSDA), 6(2), 72. Retrieved from http://journals.rcmss.com/index.php/jggsda/article/view/91.

Waithera, L., Muhia, J., & Songole, R. (2017). Impact of electronic medical records on healthcare delivery in Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital. Medical and Clinical Reviews, 3(4), 1. DOI: 10.21767/2471-299x.1000062.

Walsham, G. (2020). Health information systems in developing countries: Some reflections on information for action. Information Technology for Development, 26(1), 194-200. DOI: 10.1080/02681102.2019.1586632.

William, F., & Boren, S. (2008). The role of electronic medical record in care delivery in developing countries. International Journal of Information Management, 28(6), 503-507. DOI: https://DOI:10.10 16/j.ijinfomgt.2008.01.01.

Yi, M. (2018). Major issues in adoption of electronic health records. Journal of Digital Information Management, 16(4), 180. Retrieved from www.dline. info›fpaper›jdim.

Yu, W., Tsai, M., Hung, S., & Chen, C. C. (2019). Understanding physicians’ adoption of electronic medical records: Healthcare technology self-efficacy, service level and risk perspectives. Computer Standards and Interface, 66(1/11), 2. DOI: https://DOI.org/10.1016/j.csi.2019.04.001.