PERCEIVED USEFULNESS OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS SYSTEM BY MEDICAL DOCTORS IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITALS IN SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA

  • Blessing Damilola Abata-Ebire Department of Library and Information Science, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Nigeria
  • Saheed Abiola Hamzat Department of Library and Information Science, Adeleke University Ede, Nigeria
Keywords: Electronic Health Records, Perceived Usefulness, Medical Doctors, Private University, Teaching Hospitals, South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Electronic health records (EHR) system is a digitized system that accepts, collects, stores and displays health-related matters of patients.  This study examined the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of electronic health records systems by medical doctors in private university teaching hospitals in South-west, Nigeria. Four research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design.  Population of the study comprised 219 medical doctors in private university teaching hospitals in South-west, Nigeria. The entire population was studied hence there was no sampling. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. A total of 219 copies of the questionnaire were distributed but only 182 copies, representing 83.2% response rate was returned and found usable for analysis. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was used for analysis, while the hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Findings revealed that most of the medical doctors used EclinicalWorks, NextGen Healthcare and Allscripts. The frequency of use of the electronic health records system was to solve diagnostic problems daily while electronic health records systems were used primarily to establish proper communication among healthcare providers, timely access to information, and better documentation. A significant relationship was found between perceived usefulness and the use of electronic health records systems (. Perceived usefulness was found to be the significant factor contributing to the use of electronic health records systems by medical doctors in private university teaching hospitals in South-west, Nigeria. The need for an electronic health records system vendor to work in synergy with medical doctors, librarians, and information professionals to ensure the combination of relevant contents and sustained use of the electronic health records system in private university teaching hospitals was recommended.

Published
2022-03-30