Health information systems in Jordan and Palestine: the need for health informatics training

Abstract

Background: Some Arab countries have health information systems (HIS) in place but they lack well trained IT staff. Poor management and lack of appreciation of the importance of HIS are major barriers to development and adoption of HIS in Arab hospitals. Aims: This research is part of a survey carried out to determine health informatics (HI) use and to assess the training needs of health professionals in Jordan and Palestine. Methods: A survey was conducted in 2017 among employees in all health professions at 14 hospitals in Jordan and Palestine to assess their use of the HI system and to assess the HI skills needed in both countries. Results: The majority of respondents reported that their hospital departments were employing computer systems to run services. More than half had received training in computer skills but also half said they needed specialized training in HI. Between 58.0% and 73.6% agreed that their hospitals provided the necessary support to operate HI systems. The vast majority (86.0%) of health professionals reported that they needed skills to monitor diagnosis and treatment, including access to clinical findings. Other skills needed included using shared hospital services (85.6%), using medical records (84.7%), managing electronic patient data (84.5%), using patient medical records to conduct clinical research (83.4%), and using tele-care services and technologies effectively (75.9%). Conclusions: Health professionals in Palestine and Jordan are in need of training in HI and therefore educational programmes in the area of HI are strongly recommended.

Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA)

“…For the education sector, several education programs, both undergraduate and postgraduate, have been developed and running over the last few years. Two notable programs are, an undergraduate pathway in health informatics at Bir Zeit, developed by the HiCure project [40,41], and a master's degree in health informatics at the Arab American University [42]. These have been instrumental in building capacity and developing the skills in health informatics, to support and drive the eHealth development in Palestine, which their positive effect is anticipated to have on the ground direct influence towards more health informatics driven solutions in the coming few years.…”

Functioning of the citizen’s electronic medical records in the prison system

“…A study carried out in Palestinian territory shows that data are still collected manually in many health institutions instead of being digitized, which gives rise to data inconsistency or incompleteness and greater difficulty in monitoring patients and analyzing epidemiological data 8 .…”

“…The implementation of an SIS is complex and depends on organizational, structural, technological, and human factors to succeed. The reality of studies in Arab countries points to some barriers that interfere with the proper functioning of an SIS in hospitals, such as the lack of welltrained staff, poor management, bureaucracy, and the devaluation of its importance 8 .…”

Funcionamento do prontuário eletrônico do cidadão no sistema prisional

“…Estudo realizado em território palestino evidencia que em muitas instituições de saúde os dados ainda são coletados manualmente, em vez de serem digitalizados. A consequência desse processo é a inconsistência de dados ou incompletude, assim como maior dificuldade no monitoramento dos pacientes e na análise dos dados epidemiológicos 8 .…”