A national standards-based assessment on functionality of electronic medical records systems used in Kenyan public-Sector health facilities

Kang'a, Samuel; Puttkammer, Nancy; Wanyee, Steven; Kimanga, Davies; Madrano, Jason; Muthee, Veronica; Odawo, Patrick; Sharma, Anjali; Oluoch, Tom; Robinson, Katherine Morton; Kwach, James; Lober, William B.

doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2016.09.013

“…Low-income countries, such as Kenya, are now following this trend and beginning to replace paper-based systems with digital systems [12]. However, the technology landscape is now quite different from 10 years ago, when the systems now in operation in the UK, US and Europe were specified by large national and regional procurement processes [7,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kenya's healthcare system has recently been devolved, with funding now managed primarily by the 47 counties that make up the country [15]. The central government, through the Ministry of Health, provides support for the counties and, in the area of digital health, has established an eHealth Unit, to guide overall policy, set standards [12,16] and support national-level systems such as the Master Facilities List (MFL) and the District Health Information Software (DHIS2) (for collating national statistics on health indicators [17]). The eHealth Unit, in conjunction with the Kenya Health Informatics Association (KeHIA), is also leading the implementation of new national projects such as creating a national-level patient identifier, establishing a certification framework for (Health Information Systems) HIS, and working to establish the use of the Digital Health Atlas for ongoing monitoring of HIS implementations in Kenya [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital health Systems in Kenyan Public Hospitals: a mixed-methods survey

Muinga

¹

,

Magare

²

,

Monda

³

et al. 2020

BMC Med Inform Decis Mak

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Background: As healthcare facilities in Low-and Middle-Income Countries adopt digital health systems to improve hospital administration and patient care, it is important to understand the adoption process and assess the systems' capabilities. This survey aimed to provide decision-makers with information on the digital health systems landscape and to support the rapidly developing digital health community in Kenya and the region by sharing knowledge. Methods: We conducted a survey of County Health Records Information Officers (CHRIOs) to determine the extent to which digital health systems in public hospitals that serve as internship training centres in Kenya are adopted. We conducted site visits and interviewed hospital administrators and end users who were at the facility on the day of the visit. We also interviewed digital health system vendors to understand the adoption process from their perspective. Semi-structured interview guides adapted from the literature were used. We identified emergent themes using a thematic analysis from the data. Results: We obtained information from 39 CHRIOs, 58 hospital managers and system users, and 9 digital health system vendors through semi-structured interviews and completed questionnaires. From the survey, all facilities mentioned purchased a digital health system primarily for administrative purposes. Radiology and laboratory management systems were commonly standalone systems and there were varying levels of interoperability within facilities that had multiple systems. We only saw one in-patient clinical module in use. Users reported on issues such as system usability, inadequate training, infrastructure and system support. Vendors reported the availability of a wide range of modules, but implementation was constrained by funding, prioritisation of services, users' lack of confidence in new technologies and lack of appropriate data sharing policies. Conclusion: Public hospitals in Kenya are increasingly purchasing systems to support administrative functions and this study highlights challenges faced by hospital users and vendors. Significant work is required to ensure interoperability of systems within hospitals and with other government services. Additional studies on clinical usability and the workflow fit of digital health systems are required to ensure efficient system implementation. However, this requires support from key stakeholders including the government, international donors and regional health informatics organisations.

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“…Moreover, levels of technical security were reported as high in some health centers and moderate in certain hospitals [49]. In yet other studies, over 50% of respondents reported the security of their health data at good/moderate levels [32,50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Technical Requirements Framework of Hospital Information Systems: Design and Evaluation

Farzandipour

¹

,

Meidani

²

,

Nabovati

³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Implementing the health information system (HIS) is more complex and costly than implementing other information systems. The present study was conducted to design and evaluate technical requirements for the HIS. Methods: The present study was conducted in 2016 by determining technical requirements for the HIS using the Delphi technique and then evaluating this system using a checklist based on the approved requirements. Results: The first part of the study designed a 73-item final list of technical requirements for the HIS in four domains, i.e. communication service, system architecture, security service and system response time. The evaluation results obtained in the second part showed that communication service was met in 63.8% of the HIS programs, system architecture in 65.5%, security service in 72.4% and system response time in 76.3%. Conclusions: A technical evaluation tool was designed and used to select and evaluate the HIS. The evaluation results suggested the study HIS was poorer in terms of communication service and system architecture than in the other two dimensions.

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“…Moreover, levels of technical security were reported as high in some health centers and moderate in certain hospitals [49]. In yet other studies, over 50% of respondents reported the security of their health data at good/moderate levels [32,50]. Research suggests neither a specific policy for patient access to information nor a punishment for unauthorized access to information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Investigating the acceptability of the health information technology in seven industrial countries suggested that, despite their popularity, EHRs were yet lagging behind the health information exchange [23]. Numerous studies also reported very low levels of interoperability among HISs as low scores in assessments [30][31][32][33]. The lack of interoperability among HISs increases paperwork [34] and restricts healthcare organizations' use of the product portfolio of a software supplier in a way that their data can be stored in the specific format of the supplier and cannot be easily transferred to other systems [35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical requirements framework of hospital information systems: design and evaluation

Farzandipour

¹

,

Meidani

²

,

Nabovati

³

et al. 2020

BMC Med Inform Decis Mak

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Implementing the health information system (HIS) is more complex and costly than implementing other information systems. The present study was conducted to design and evaluate technical requirements for the HIS. Methods: The present study was conducted in 2016 by determining technical requirements for the HIS using the Delphi technique and then evaluating this system using a checklist based on the approved requirements. Results: The first part of the study designed a 73-item final list of technical requirements for the HIS in four domains, i.e. communication service, system architecture, security service and system response time. The evaluation results obtained in the second part showed that communication service was met in 63.8% of the HIS programs, system architecture in 65.5%, security service in 72.4% and system response time in 76.3%. Conclusions: A technical evaluation tool was designed and used to select and evaluate the HIS. The evaluation results suggested the study HIS was poorer in terms of communication service and system architecture than in the other two dimensions.

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A national standards-based assessment on functionality of electronic medical records systems used in Kenyan public-Sector health facilities

Cited by 27 publications

References 16 publications

Digital health Systems in Kenyan Public Hospitals: a mixed-methods survey

Digital health Systems in Kenyan Public Hospitals: a mixed-methods survey

Technical Requirements Framework of Hospital Information Systems: Design and Evaluation

Technical requirements framework of hospital information systems: design and evaluation

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