PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Globally, hospitals are moving away from paper-based medical records towards electronic health records (EHR). The pace of the movement differs between countries and between different health sectors within countries. The benefits of moving toward EHR are numerous. Use of EHR help in improving quality of health information, speed and flexibility in access to health records, improvement in the process of decision making for patients. All of these help in reducing medical errors and in improving on patient safety. In addition, EHR is an integral component of the e-health.
However, in spite of the numerous benefits of EHR, its uptake is slow in many countries and in places where EHR has been adopted; the degree of its integration with other components of e-health (full functionality) is also rather low. In the USA, the Medical Records Institute (MRI) has been carrying out annual surveys on the use of EHRs in the USA since 1998. The surveys help to inform on the improvement in the uptake of EHR adoption (MRI 2005). In addition to the regular MRI surveys, other organizations/researchers in the USA are carrying out EHR surveys to study determinants of EHR adoption or perceptions on different aspects of EHR. In a survey of physicians conducted in 2007-2008, it was found that only four percent of physicians in ambulatory care reported having fully functional EHR system, while 13% reported having some basic EHR system (DesRoche and al. 2008). The same study also found that adoption of EHR systems was significantly higher among the younger physicians, those working in large hospitals and those living in Western United States. It is only after having such information can meaningful and targeted interventions be carried out to improve the adoption of EHR over a short period.
In Saudi Arabia, there is a vision for moving towards EHR and e-health in general. This is evidenced by successful e-health integration that has been achieved in the hospitals of the National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA) and that of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH & RC) in Riyadh (Altuweijri 2008). This contrasts with the low level of IT infrastructure in the Saudi Ministry of Health hospitals such as some Primary Health Care centers (Altuweijri 2008). In between these two extremes, there is a lot that needs to be uncovered with regards to the adoption of EHR in Saudi Arabia. Such knowledge will serve several uses. First, it can help give the level of EHR adoption in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia or the provinces. Second it can serve as benchmark against which to gauge the pace of improvement of uptake of EHR. Lastly, it can provide information to guide the development of intervention programs targeting the increase in the uptake of EHR.
Project and Program Objectives
The project’s primary aim to assess the level and extent of usage of EHR in the government-related hospitals in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. This assessment is not an end in itself but a means to several ends. The project would lay the foundation for future EHR surveys in Saudi Arabia and would form the basis of designing intervention programs. As such, the project is not envisaged as being a once-off survey but rather, through its website, to serve as an on-going project that works towards the improvement of EHR adoption in Saudi Arabia. It is hoped that the project will help foster collaboration among staff members and the results of the survey would be used in teaching.
However, in spite of the numerous benefits of EHR, its uptake is slow in many countries and in places where EHR has been adopted; the degree of its integration with other components of e-health (full functionality) is also rather low. In the USA, the Medical Records Institute (MRI) has been carrying out annual surveys on the use of EHRs in the USA since 1998. The surveys help to inform on the improvement in the uptake of EHR adoption (MRI 2005). In addition to the regular MRI surveys, other organizations/researchers in the USA are carrying out EHR surveys to study determinants of EHR adoption or perceptions on different aspects of EHR. In a survey of physicians conducted in 2007-2008, it was found that only four percent of physicians in ambulatory care reported having fully functional EHR system, while 13% reported having some basic EHR system (DesRoche and al. 2008). The same study also found that adoption of EHR systems was significantly higher among the younger physicians, those working in large hospitals and those living in Western United States. It is only after having such information can meaningful and targeted interventions be carried out to improve the adoption of EHR over a short period.
In Saudi Arabia, there is a vision for moving towards EHR and e-health in general. This is evidenced by successful e-health integration that has been achieved in the hospitals of the National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA) and that of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH & RC) in Riyadh (Altuweijri 2008). This contrasts with the low level of IT infrastructure in the Saudi Ministry of Health hospitals such as some Primary Health Care centers (Altuweijri 2008). In between these two extremes, there is a lot that needs to be uncovered with regards to the adoption of EHR in Saudi Arabia. Such knowledge will serve several uses. First, it can help give the level of EHR adoption in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia or the provinces. Second it can serve as benchmark against which to gauge the pace of improvement of uptake of EHR. Lastly, it can provide information to guide the development of intervention programs targeting the increase in the uptake of EHR.
Project and Program Objectives
The project’s primary aim to assess the level and extent of usage of EHR in the government-related hospitals in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. This assessment is not an end in itself but a means to several ends. The project would lay the foundation for future EHR surveys in Saudi Arabia and would form the basis of designing intervention programs. As such, the project is not envisaged as being a once-off survey but rather, through its website, to serve as an on-going project that works towards the improvement of EHR adoption in Saudi Arabia. It is hoped that the project will help foster collaboration among staff members and the results of the survey would be used in teaching.