<p>Use of an online medical database for clinical decision-making processes: assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health care providers</p>

Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health care providers toward the use of online medical databases for clinical decision-making processes. Subjects and methods: The study population included all the licensed oral health care providers living in Rwanda, registered either with the Rwanda Allied Health Professional Council (RAHPC) or Rwanda Medical and Dental Council (RMDC). A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect demographic data as well as data regarding knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health care providers regarding the use of online medical databases for making clinical decisions. A pilot study with 12 oral health care providers was done before the main study to pretest the questionnaire. Results: The study results show that among the 201 respondents, 80% (N=160) reported using internet-based resources to support their clinical decisions, while 20% (N=41) of oral health care providers do not use online resources when making their clinical decisions. In general, there was a positive attitude towards internet-based resources among the participants, as 92% (N=184) respondents believe that internet-based resources are helpful in clinical decision-making processes. Of clinical importance, 68% respondents (N=136) believe that by using current internet-based information, better clinical care can be offered to their patients. Conclusion: Educating oral health care providers on the useful and appropriate online resources available for supporting clinical decision-making processes might increase the efficiency of patient care.

Electronic Health-Information Resource Utilization and Its Associated Factors among Health Professionals in Amhara Regional State Teaching Hospitals, Ethiopia

“…Among those that used EHIRs, their main reasonswere updating their knowledge (53.4%), clinical care of patients (28.8%), and supporting clinical decisions (14.4%). This result is in some context supported by the study conducted in the teaching hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Science (health professionals used EHIRs to obtain new and updated information, supporting patients, and conducting research), 8 another conducted in Rwanda (used for supporting clinical decision-making, 34.8% for clinical procedure information), 17 and one in Nigeria (used for accessing patient-care information, research purposes,…”

“…This study revealed that 70.8% of the health professionals utilized EHIRs, which is consistent with a study conducted in Saudi Arabia (72.7%), 20 and one in Iran (65.4%). 8 On the other hand, this result is lower than a study conducted in the UK (81%), 21 one in Rwanda (80%), 17 and another in Osun state, Nigeria (82.2%). 25 IT infrastructure has a key role in EHIR use,so this discrepancy might be due to differences in IT infrastructure among those study settings.…”

“…7,16 Healthcare professionals need to update their knowledge and extract the information they need for practicing high-quality health-care delivery and to integrate best practices in handling and making healthcare decisions and providing services. 17 The use of adequate EHIRs by health professionals will improve the level of health-care delivery and wellness of the population. 17,18 In the past health, professionals relied on traditional HIRs to support their decision-making.…”

“…17 The use of adequate EHIRs by health professionals will improve the level of health-care delivery and wellness of the population. 17,18 In the past health, professionals relied on traditional HIRs to support their decision-making. 14 This approach is time-consuming and not sufficient for every clinical question that arises at the point of care.…”

“…Concerning frequently searched information, 34.8% searched for clinical procedure information and 24.8% for drug-prescription information. 17 Health professionals in Nigeria mostly use Hinari And Medline, followed by electronic journal websites (23%). They use those resources mainly for clinical work and patient-care information, research, examination purposes, and general health-care information to update their knowledge, and also most perceived those EHIRs as relevant for their information needs.…”