ABSTRACT
This study focused on ICT application in
Health Information Management section, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching
Hospital, Sagamu. A simple random sampling technique was employed for the
selection of respondent for the study. A total of Seventy eight (78)
respondents across the department were randomly selected for the study. The reliability
test of the instrument shows a (α=0.9 for staff level of awareness of
technology use in health information management practices), (α=0.8 for areas of
technology application in health information practice).The findings showed that
majority of the of the respondent had good knowledge of technology use in
health information practices and the need for its application in the day to day
administration of the hospital activities.
The
finding shows area of ICT application which includes: coding and indexing of
clinical diagnosis, maintenance and records keeping, information processing and
decision making and reduction of
medical cost. The findings also showed that majority of the respondents
(80.8%) identified barriers such as:
Poor internet availability, inadequate funding, erratic power supply and ICT
illiteracy as factors militating against ICT used in Health Information
Management section of OOUTH.
From the findings of the study, it is
evidence that technology application in health information management
department cannot be overemphasized in this technology age, the study showed
that information and communication technology (ICT) is required for information
processing in particular the use of electronic health records system and
computer software to convert, store, process, transmit and retrieve
information. The study revealed that technology has the potential of enhancing
job satisfaction of health information management professionals.
The
study concluded that ICT has the potential of enhancing job satisfaction of
health management professionals.
The
study recommended that the staff in the department should be trained on how to
make better use of their ICT infrastructures particularly electronic health
records system.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Health is an essential component of development, vital to a
nation's economic growth and internal stability. Health is a fundamental human
right as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948).
The discipline of Health Information Management (HIM)
is a fast - growing field that combines the activities of medicine, management,
finance, information technology, and law. Over the years, the role of health
information management professionals has been to collect, validate, code,
maintain, and make accessible the health data that doctors, nurses, and other
healthcare providers rely on to deliver quality healthcare (AHIMA, 2008) Health Information Management
professionals have expertise in managing patient health information,
administering computer information systems, protecting patient privacy, and
coding diagnoses and procedures for healthcare services provided to patients.
Health information technology (HIT) professionals focus on the technical side
of managing patient health data. They are experts in the planning,
implementation, and maintenance of the software and hardware systems that
healthcare professionals use to capture, manage, and store health data.
Today, new technology
and regulations are significantly changing the health information management
practice. The transition from paper to electronic health records (EHRs) is
spurring the creation of vast health data repositories that have never existed
before thereby making the discipline a technology bases field of study. Technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in
the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of
objectives, such as scientific investigation. Technology can be the knowledge of techniques, processes, etc. or it
can be embedded in machines, computers, devices and factories, which can be
operated by individuals without detailed knowledge of the workings of such
things. Health information technology (HIT) is being sought as one of the key
elements to streamline the process of providing healthcare to improve quality
and harness cost. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical
Health (a provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) defines health information technology as “hardware, software, integrated
technologies or related licenses, intellectual property, upgrades, or packaged
solutions sold as services that are designed for or support the use by health
care entities or patients for the electronic creation, maintenance, access, or
exchange of health information.
Health
information technology is the basis for a more patient-centred and
evidence-based medicine with the real-time availability of high-quality
information. Hence, despite the various interpretations of the scope of health
information technology all healthcare stakeholders agree that it is the premise
on which a 21st-century healthcare system. Health information technology (HIT)
consists of set of technologies with a great diversion for transmitting and
managing health care data for all stakeholders’ use. Stakeholders of health information include
payer, providers, insurers, and all other groups with an interest in health and
health care. HIT is the use of computer
in the form of physician digital assistance, electronic health records,
computerized physician order entry system by doctors, patients, hospitals,
laboratories, x-ray facilities and all other stake holders. Health information
technology is very important part of constantly changing environment of health
care system. With the use of HIT health related information can be communicated
well and can be used in evidence based decision making process (Wikipedia
2006).
Benefits
of HIT include reduce paper work in hospital environment which results in
reducing medical errors, decrease need for repeating medical tests which
effects in reducing health care cost. Evidence based practice play a key role
in efficient health information system quality, outcome and efficiency of
health. Health care system can be improved by having timely and accurate
information for evidence based decisions at all levels. Proactive uses of
information technology in health sector empower consumers of health services as
they can easily access health information as well as decision tool and by use
of HIT health professionals can collaborate more easily when distance is a
major factor. (Wikipedia 2006).
The
quality of health care is ultimately judged by the impact of specific health
services on the patient’s health information. Improving quality involves
identifying and using health Services that, when properly executed, produce the
greatest improvement in health status. The most direct contribution that
information technology can make to improve the quality of health care is to
provide the clinician with better information about the patient and health
problem at hand and alternative tests and treatments for that problem,
preferably at the point of care. This would enable clinicians to choose more
effective services more quickly and help them avoid potentially tragic errors.
The most relevant technology use in health care include: electronic patient
records, structured data entry, advanced human-computer interface technologies,
portable computers, automated capture of data from diagnostic and monitoring
equipment, relational databases with online query (key-word search and
retrieval), knowledge-based computing, and computer networks. Areas of
technology application includes:
1.2 Statement of
the Problem
Health information management is not a new thought.
In fact, it is a profession that run parallel with the practice of medicine.
Hitherto, the science and art of health information management in Olabisi Onabanjo
University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu, Ogun State. The manual way of
managing health information has greatly
influenced the efficiency and the effectiveness of the concerned department
which has contributed to its low level of acceptability and recognition. Thus, the current study seeks to investigate
the level of technology application in OOUTH health information management
practice and how this has contributed to effective health care delivery in the
hospital. It is expected that the outcome of this study will contribute to
existing literature and practice of health information management.
1.3 Objectives of
the Study
The main focus of this study is to examine the
significance of ICT application in the management of health information
practice. This was achieved by means of the following specific objectives which
are set to:
i.
Examine the level of ICT use in
health information practice among staff of health information management
department in OOUTH
ii. Investigate areas of technology
application in health information management practice
iii. Find out the barriers militating
technology application in health information management in OOUTH
1.4 Research Questions
This research
will provides answer to the following questions:
i.
What are the areas that
technology can be applied in Health Information Management of OOUTH health
information management department?
ii.
What is the level of
Technology use in Health Information Management Practices of health information
management department in OOUTH?
iii.
What are the barriers
to the application of ICT in Health Information Management Practices in OOUTH?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The findings from this
research will benefit to a great extent all the stakeholders of health
information including tax payers, health providers, health insurers, and all
other groups with an interest in health and health care. The outcome will open
the eyes of health manager to put up patient-centred and evidence-based
medicine with the real-time availability of high-quality information.
Abiding with the
outcome and recommendations of this research will make healthcare stakeholders
operate within the purview and premise on which a 21st-century healthcare
system is based. The findings will also provide basis for great diversion for
transmitting and managing health care data for all stakeholders’ use. The
outcome of this study will encourage and assist the health provider metamorphosing into paperless health
information practice which could have the attending merits of promoting quality
healthcare, reduce cost and enhance proper documentation, storage, and filing,
fast and comprehensive accessibility of patient information.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This
study focused on technology application in Health Information Management
Depatrment in Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Health
Information: This is an information about a
patient’s medical condition or medical history patient’s name, medical
information, medical record number, billing information, insurance information,
email address, phone number, mailing address, birth date, text or emails from
or to patients, and text or emails to or from providers and other professionals
that can be used to identify a patient.
Health
Information Management: This is the act of
managing patient health information, administering computer information systems
in such a way as to protect patient privacy.
Health
Information Technology (HIT): this is the device or
tool that supports health
information management across
computerized systems and the secure exchange of health information between consumers, providers, payers, and quality monitors.
Health
Information Management professionals:
These are the experts in managing patient health information, administering
computer information systems, protecting patient privacy, and coding diagnoses
and procedures for healthcare services provided to patients.
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