USEFULNESS OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM (EHIS): HEALTH CARE SERVICE PROVIDER’S PERCEPTION IN KUWAITI HOSPITALS

6^th International Conference on Medical Informatics & Telemedicine

July 05-06, 2018 | Berlin, Germany

Eiman Al Jafar

Kuwait University, Kuwait

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Health Med Informat

Abstract :

Statement of the Problem: Electronic health information system (EHIS) is an essential technology for today's health care delivery facilities and will lead to a quality health care, patient satisfaction, increase the scientific base of medicine and nursing and reduce health care costs. However, due to limited and in-effective use of the EHIS by healthcare professionals the implementation of the system is unsuccessful in many countries. Acceptance of EHIS and full utilization by healthcare professionals depend on many factors. The purpose of this study is to identify the underlying unobserved factors those may explain the health care professionals� perception toward EHIS and how those factors correlate with background characteristics of the respondents. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Structured questionnaires were distributed among 400 healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, technologists, health information administrators and other) resulting in a response rate of 67.8 percent. Perceptions regarding EIHS were measured using nineteen items each representing a Likert-type scale along with the background characteristics. Cronbach�s alpha (reliability coefficient) was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument and the factor analysis to identify the common perceptions of healthcare professionals regarding EHIS. Findings: Four factors are identified as efficiency, timeliness and quality of care, accessibility and; ease of use. The relationship of each item to the underlying factors is mostly very strong as expressed by the factor loading. Internal consistency of all factors measured by Cronbach's alpha. Conclusion & Significance: The EHIS with efficiency, timeliness and quality of care, accessibility and ease of use are important factors for regular use by healthcare professionals which will increase the use of EHIS and lead to the successful implementation of the EHIS.

Biography :

Eiman Al Jafar is one of the pioneers in Health Information Systems/Management in Kuwait. Currently she is working as the Chairperson of the Department of Health Informatics and Information Management at the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University. Since 2002, she provided consultancy services to ministry of health, government hospitals and private sector. She worked with the Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization (KIMS) an institute specialized in providing current advances in residency medical education. The services at KIMS included improving Clinical Documentation and the use of Information Technologies by Health Care Team. Her primary research focus is in evaluating Electronic Health Records, Health Informatics, Information & Communication technologies, m-Health and e-Health.

E-mail: eiman@hsc.edu.kw