Extent of use of digital technologies for records and information management in selected hospitals in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

This cross-sectional survey aimed to identify the extent of the use of digital technologies in dental hospitals for records and information management. Questionnaire were administered to dental practitioners across six purposely selected dental Hospitals in Southwestern Nigeria. Amongst the 210 copies of questionnaire administered, 162 were completed, retrieved, and fit for the analysis, which resulted in a response rate of 77.1%. The extent of use of digital technologies for information management in the selected hospitals was measured by the period of purchase; number owned; frequency of use; current state of the technology; and the level of automation at the selected hospitals. Based on the period of purchase, most of the respondents (82.1%) have been using digital technologies for below 5 years. As regards the number of digital technologies owned; analysis showed that most (91.3%) of the hospitals have less than or equal to three digital technologies in use for information management. The frequency of use shows that majority (45.7% and 21.6% respectively) of the respondents never and rarely uses digital technologies for information management. However, a further investigation into the current state of the technologies owned showed that most of the respondents (65.4%) of the respondents have non-functional technologies. Furthermore, a 0% value was recorded on the question about the present level of automation of the selected hospitals. This showed that none of the hospitals have fully automated their information management processes. Finally, 80.2% of the respondents agreed that information management processes in their hospitals are totally paper-based.