APPRAISAL OF THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHR) IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HOSPITALS IN ENUGU URBAN

ABSTRACT

This project is titled an appraisal of the principles and practice of electronic health records (EHR) in public and private hospitals in Enugu urban. The objectives of the study were to determine; the extent of possession of requisite equipment, the extent of compliance with the principle and practice of electronic health records (EHR) in public and private hospitals in Enugu urban. The research was a descriptive survey. The population of study was made up of 436 health care professionals out of whom 115 were Health Information Management (HIM) professionals, 78 clinicians, 73 non- clinicians, 160 private practitioners and 9 others as respondents. The research questionnaire was found reliable using the test re-test method thus: 72 for cluster A, 64 for cluster B, and 55 for cluster C yielding a general score of 63.67. The research involved three research questions. The study found out that: public hospitals do not possess the requisite equipment for EHR while private hospitals do; public and private hospitals comply with the principles and practice of EHR, but have not overcome the challenges in Enugu urban. The researcher made the following recommendations: that HIMAN and AHIMA codes of ethics be adopted, utilization and application of all the principles outlined in the study, use of out sourcing techniques, staff development through personal education, in-service training, workshops and seminars to increase competence, use of biometric identification, health insurance plans, policies and protection of patient’s privacy and voluntary consent. The researcher also recommended promotion of HIM professionals as and when due to prevent anti-social inclinations. The researcher agrees that use of EHR has a positive motivation as well as challenge to health care professionals in Enugu urban.