Summary of the survey
Methodology
This is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey and the respondents in the study are the heads of the Information Technology (IT) departments in the different government hospitals. As these are all computer-literate, it was decided to make the survey a web-based one. The survey was conducted online from November 2010 to December 2010.
The questionnaire for the study was developed in stages. The web survey software, 2ask, was used to develop the questionnaire (https://secure-0004.2ask.net). At the first stage, several questionnaires used in the literature were adapted and used to produce a draft. The project committee met, discussed the draft and produced a second draft. The web survey was pilot-tested on members of the project committee and comments were used to improve on the questionnaire. Revisions and refinements were made until a final draft was produced. Hence the final draft produced was based on several questionnaires and input from project committee members. An attempt was made to translate the questionnaire into Arabic. Later on, this idea was dropped as the target audience was considered to be literate in English. The final questionnaire, as it appears in 2ask is given in the Appendix.
The questionnaire covers different EHR topics. Background questions are asked about the type, size, location of the hospital and the year of its establishment. Questions are asked on the different functionalities in the EHR system; chart review, decision support, order entry, documentation and communication. Several questions are asked on the security of the EHR system. A general question is asked on the other additional tools present in the EHR system. An open-ended question was asked on the problems that the IT heads faced in implementation of EHR in their hospitals.
Since the survey was to be done in government hospitals, permission was sought from the Ministry of Health to conduct the survey. The permission was approved and main contact person at the Ministry of Health in Riyadh offered to assist in getting the IT heads to participate in the survey.
The survey was closed in December 2010 and the data was subsequently downloaded for analysis.
Results: Of the 19 government hospitals in the Eastern Province that fall under the Ministry of Health, only three (15.8%) have EHR. These hospitals were established in different dates, close to 10 years apart. The earliest one, in 1984 and the other two hospitals were established in 1995 and 2005, successively. All the three hospitals have implemented the same EHR software and were using it successfully. All of the hospitals were using the three core features of laboratory, radiology and pharmacy electronic modules. We found some modules being present in the EHR system but were underutilized. Some of the main challenges faced by the IT managers in implementing EHR in their hospitals were related to the uncooperative attitudes of some physicians and nurses towards EHR.
Conclusion: The government of Saudi Arabia has prioritized the development of eHealth and had allocated committed funding for it during the period, 2008-2011. During this period, some sectors of government made highly commendable efforts in developing their eHealth services. Along these lines, we would like to see higher uptake of EHR in the Eastern Province than the 15.8% found in this study. The rate of implementing EHR in government hospitals should be accelerated. The aim should be on achieving some basic EHR functionality in these hospitals. Once this has been achieved, additional functionality can be pursued in stages
.
This is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey and the respondents in the study are the heads of the Information Technology (IT) departments in the different government hospitals. As these are all computer-literate, it was decided to make the survey a web-based one. The survey was conducted online from November 2010 to December 2010.
The questionnaire for the study was developed in stages. The web survey software, 2ask, was used to develop the questionnaire (https://secure-0004.2ask.net). At the first stage, several questionnaires used in the literature were adapted and used to produce a draft. The project committee met, discussed the draft and produced a second draft. The web survey was pilot-tested on members of the project committee and comments were used to improve on the questionnaire. Revisions and refinements were made until a final draft was produced. Hence the final draft produced was based on several questionnaires and input from project committee members. An attempt was made to translate the questionnaire into Arabic. Later on, this idea was dropped as the target audience was considered to be literate in English. The final questionnaire, as it appears in 2ask is given in the Appendix.
The questionnaire covers different EHR topics. Background questions are asked about the type, size, location of the hospital and the year of its establishment. Questions are asked on the different functionalities in the EHR system; chart review, decision support, order entry, documentation and communication. Several questions are asked on the security of the EHR system. A general question is asked on the other additional tools present in the EHR system. An open-ended question was asked on the problems that the IT heads faced in implementation of EHR in their hospitals.
Since the survey was to be done in government hospitals, permission was sought from the Ministry of Health to conduct the survey. The permission was approved and main contact person at the Ministry of Health in Riyadh offered to assist in getting the IT heads to participate in the survey.
The survey was closed in December 2010 and the data was subsequently downloaded for analysis.
Results: Of the 19 government hospitals in the Eastern Province that fall under the Ministry of Health, only three (15.8%) have EHR. These hospitals were established in different dates, close to 10 years apart. The earliest one, in 1984 and the other two hospitals were established in 1995 and 2005, successively. All the three hospitals have implemented the same EHR software and were using it successfully. All of the hospitals were using the three core features of laboratory, radiology and pharmacy electronic modules. We found some modules being present in the EHR system but were underutilized. Some of the main challenges faced by the IT managers in implementing EHR in their hospitals were related to the uncooperative attitudes of some physicians and nurses towards EHR.
Conclusion: The government of Saudi Arabia has prioritized the development of eHealth and had allocated committed funding for it during the period, 2008-2011. During this period, some sectors of government made highly commendable efforts in developing their eHealth services. Along these lines, we would like to see higher uptake of EHR in the Eastern Province than the 15.8% found in this study. The rate of implementing EHR in government hospitals should be accelerated. The aim should be on achieving some basic EHR functionality in these hospitals. Once this has been achieved, additional functionality can be pursued in stages
.