HEALTH SYSTEM FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE UTILIZATION OF EMR AMONG HEALTH WORKERS IN SELECTED LEVEL III AND IV HOSPITALS IN SIAYA COUNTY, KENYA
HEALTH SYSTEM FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE UTILIZATION OF EMR AMONG HEALTH WORKERS IN SELECTED LEVEL III AND IV HOSPITALS IN SIAYA COUNTY, KENYA
Okumu M Mudavadi - Master of Public Health Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation of Mount Kenya University, Kenya
Dr. Jackline Mosinya Nyaberi - Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Dr. Juma Nyamai - Mount Kenya University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Health-related use of information technology is an emerging trend in health care practice. More activities in health care are being integrated with information technology to make services efficient and effective. In Siaya, a county where internet, electricity, and skilled medical personnel are not readily available, computers have emerged as one of the channels through which medical information can be availed to health workers in rural areas. The research aimed to assess the utilization of electronic medical records systems in Siaya County. The main objective of this study was to determine health system factors contributing to the utilization of EMR among health workers in Siaya County. The researcher used cross sectional descriptive study design; it targeted health care workers in sampled level III and IV hospitals. The participants of interest comprised of doctors, nurses, clinical officers, pharmaceutical technologists, laboratory technologists and health records officers. The inclusion for choosing a facility was based on the availability of relevant cadres, afunctional electronic medical records system and workload. Proportional stratified random sampling was used to ensure that all categories of health workers were included in the study. The total number of respondents were targeted to be 187 participants representing each cadre. Key interviews and checklists was used for data collection. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 24. Quantitative data was analyzed thematically using content analysis of the information from the critical participant’s interviews and questionnaires. Major finding was that there was limited utilization of EMRs in Siaya County. In conclusion, the study findings show that there was limited utilization of Electronic Medical Records systems among level III and IV healthcare workers in Siaya County. Availability of technical support to healthcare workers at lower-tier health facilities are vital to the continued good utilization of EMRs. The county government should invest in Human Resources Management to ensure that trained staff in level III and IV health facilities are well remunerated to ensure continuity of services and skilled utilization of EMRs.
