This study aimed at identifying the issue, challenges and opportunities from the health consumers in
Tanzania towards interoperability of electronic health records. Reaching that level of seamless data
sharing among Hospitals needs the cooperation of all stakeholders especially the health consumer whose
data are the ones to be shared. Without their acceptance that means there is nothing to share. Recognizing
that we conducted a study in Tanzania to identify the challenges, issues and opportunities towards health
information exchange through interoperable EHRs. The study was conducted in three major cities of
Tanzania to identify the security, privacy and confidentiality issues of information sharing together with
related challenges to data sharing. This was in order to come up with a clear picture of how to implement
some EHRs that will be trusted by health consumers. The participants (n=240) were surveyed on computer
usage, EHRs knowledge, demographics, security and privacy issues. A total of 200 surveys were completed
and returned (83.3% response rate). Among them 67.5% were women, 62.6% had not heard of EHRs, 73%
were highly concerned about the privacy and security of their information. 75% believed that introduction
of various security mechanisms will make EHRs more secure and thus better. We conducted a number of
chi-square tests (p<0.05) and we realized that there was a strong relationship among the variable of age,
computer use, EHRs knowledge and the concerns for privacy and security.The study also showed that there
was just a small difference of 8.5% between those people who think EHRs are safer than paper records and
those who think otherwise. The general observation of the study was that in order to make EHRs successful
in our Hospitals then the issue of security, and health consumer involvement were they two key towards the
road of successful EHRs in our hospitals practices and that will make consumers more willing to allow
their records to be shared among different health organizations. So besides the issues identified, this study
helped us to identify the key requirements which will be implemented in our proposed framework.
Towards EHR Interoperability in Tanzania Hospitals : Issues, Challenges and O...IJCSEA Journal
This study aimed at identifying the issue, challenges and opportunities from the health consumers in Tanzania towards interoperability of electronic health records. Reaching that level of seamless data sharing among Hospitals needs the cooperation of all stakeholders especially the health consumer whose data are the ones to be shared. Without their acceptance that means there is nothing to share. Recognizing that we conducted a study in Tanzania to identify the challenges, issues and opportunities towards health information exchange through interoperable EHRs. The study was conducted in three major cities of Tanzania to identify the security, privacy and confidentiality issues of information sharing together with related challenges to data sharing. This was in order to come up with a clear picture of how to implement some EHRs that will be trusted by health consumers. The participants (n=240) were surveyed on computer usage, EHRs knowledge, demographics, security and privacy issues. A total of 200 surveys were completed and returned (83.3% response rate). Among them 67.5% were women, 62.6% had not heard of EHRs, 73% were highly concerned about the privacy and security of their information. 75% believed that introduction of various security mechanisms will make EHRs more secure and thus better. We conducted a number of chi-square tests (p<0.05) and we realized that there was a strong relationship among the variable of age, computer use, EHRs knowledge and the concerns for privacy and security. The study also showed that there was just a small difference of 8.5% between those people who think EHRs are safer than paper records and those who think otherwise. The general observation of the study was that in order to make EHRs successful in our Hospitals then the issue of security, and health consumer involvement were they two key towards the road of successful EHRs in our hospitals practices and that will make consumers more willing to allow their records to be shared among different health organizations. So besides the issues identified, this study helped us to identify the key requirements which will be implemented in our proposed framework
Factors Affecting the Adoption of Electronic Health Records by Nursepaperpublications3
Abstract: Electronic Health Record has potential to improve patient care by managing patient’s medical and personal information efficiently and effectively. It is easy to maintain patient information electronically compared to paper based records. Many studies have been done in other countries to study the effective use of Electronic Health Record, but a small number of studies exist in Indian situation. This study is a footstep in this route. This study has been done to know the use of electronic health records among nurses in private medium sized hospitals of Tamil Nadu, India. The objective of the study is to explore the use of Electronic Health Records and barriers in using it among nurses. This study also analyzes the factors affecting nurses to adopt electronic health record. Only a third of the nurses (33%) use electronic health record. Lack of training is the major hindrance in use electronic health record among nurses.
Factors Associated With Internet Use among Primary Care Patients in Makurdi, ...iosrjce
IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences is one of the speciality Journal in Dental Science and Medical Science published by International Organization of Scientific Research (IOSR). The Journal publishes papers of the highest scientific merit and widest possible scope work in all areas related to medical and dental science. The Journal welcome review articles, leading medical and clinical research articles, technical notes, case reports and others.
E-Health is alluded to as utilizing of information and communication technologies (ICT) in restorative field to control treatment of patients, research, and wellbeing training and checking of general wellbeing. The reason for this paper is thusly to investigate an institutionalized system for E-Health challenges confronted
by e-wellbeing A rundown of both e-wellbeing difficulties are given and a proposed structure is likewise accommodated E-Health and could give direction in the execution of e-wellbeing To understand the motivation behind the paper, an inductive substance examination procedure was taken after. The
fundamental outcomes were that in spite of the fact that the difficulties exceeds the advantages in the gave records, there is still trust that through appropriate ICT arrangements the advantages of e-wellbeing can develop all the more quickly. This can prompt to enhanced e-wellbeing administration conveyance and nationals in nations can all profit by this.
Proposed Framework For Electronic Clinical Record Information Systemijcsa
This research paper is drawn from an ongoing, large-scale project of implementing Electronic Clinical Record (ECR). The overall aim in this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the socio-technical aspects of the complexities and challenges emerging from the implementation of the ECR, and in particular to study how to manage a gradual transition to digital record. We have proposed ECR conceptual mode. The end result of our research was a collection of ideas / surveys, and field work that clinical institutions and medical informatics must consider to ensure that patients and clinics do not lose long-term access to ECR and technology continually progress. Results of our study identified the need for more research in this particular area as no definitive solution to long-term access to electronic clinical records was revealed. Additionally, the research findings highlighted the fact that a few medical institutions may actually be concerned about long-term access to electronic records.
Towards EHR Interoperability in Tanzania Hospitals : Issues, Challenges and O...IJCSEA Journal
This study aimed at identifying the issue, challenges and opportunities from the health consumers in Tanzania towards interoperability of electronic health records. Reaching that level of seamless data sharing among Hospitals needs the cooperation of all stakeholders especially the health consumer whose data are the ones to be shared. Without their acceptance that means there is nothing to share. Recognizing that we conducted a study in Tanzania to identify the challenges, issues and opportunities towards health information exchange through interoperable EHRs. The study was conducted in three major cities of Tanzania to identify the security, privacy and confidentiality issues of information sharing together with related challenges to data sharing. This was in order to come up with a clear picture of how to implement some EHRs that will be trusted by health consumers. The participants (n=240) were surveyed on computer usage, EHRs knowledge, demographics, security and privacy issues. A total of 200 surveys were completed and returned (83.3% response rate). Among them 67.5% were women, 62.6% had not heard of EHRs, 73% were highly concerned about the privacy and security of their information. 75% believed that introduction of various security mechanisms will make EHRs more secure and thus better. We conducted a number of chi-square tests (p<0.05) and we realized that there was a strong relationship among the variable of age, computer use, EHRs knowledge and the concerns for privacy and security. The study also showed that there was just a small difference of 8.5% between those people who think EHRs are safer than paper records and those who think otherwise. The general observation of the study was that in order to make EHRs successful in our Hospitals then the issue of security, and health consumer involvement were they two key towards the road of successful EHRs in our hospitals practices and that will make consumers more willing to allow their records to be shared among different health organizations. So besides the issues identified, this study helped us to identify the key requirements which will be implemented in our proposed framework
Factors Affecting the Adoption of Electronic Health Records by Nursepaperpublications3
Abstract: Electronic Health Record has potential to improve patient care by managing patient’s medical and personal information efficiently and effectively. It is easy to maintain patient information electronically compared to paper based records. Many studies have been done in other countries to study the effective use of Electronic Health Record, but a small number of studies exist in Indian situation. This study is a footstep in this route. This study has been done to know the use of electronic health records among nurses in private medium sized hospitals of Tamil Nadu, India. The objective of the study is to explore the use of Electronic Health Records and barriers in using it among nurses. This study also analyzes the factors affecting nurses to adopt electronic health record. Only a third of the nurses (33%) use electronic health record. Lack of training is the major hindrance in use electronic health record among nurses.
Factors Associated With Internet Use among Primary Care Patients in Makurdi, ...iosrjce
IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences is one of the speciality Journal in Dental Science and Medical Science published by International Organization of Scientific Research (IOSR). The Journal publishes papers of the highest scientific merit and widest possible scope work in all areas related to medical and dental science. The Journal welcome review articles, leading medical and clinical research articles, technical notes, case reports and others.
E-Health is alluded to as utilizing of information and communication technologies (ICT) in restorative field to control treatment of patients, research, and wellbeing training and checking of general wellbeing. The reason for this paper is thusly to investigate an institutionalized system for E-Health challenges confronted
by e-wellbeing A rundown of both e-wellbeing difficulties are given and a proposed structure is likewise accommodated E-Health and could give direction in the execution of e-wellbeing To understand the motivation behind the paper, an inductive substance examination procedure was taken after. The
fundamental outcomes were that in spite of the fact that the difficulties exceeds the advantages in the gave records, there is still trust that through appropriate ICT arrangements the advantages of e-wellbeing can develop all the more quickly. This can prompt to enhanced e-wellbeing administration conveyance and nationals in nations can all profit by this.
Proposed Framework For Electronic Clinical Record Information Systemijcsa
This research paper is drawn from an ongoing, large-scale project of implementing Electronic Clinical Record (ECR). The overall aim in this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the socio-technical aspects of the complexities and challenges emerging from the implementation of the ECR, and in particular to study how to manage a gradual transition to digital record. We have proposed ECR conceptual mode. The end result of our research was a collection of ideas / surveys, and field work that clinical institutions and medical informatics must consider to ensure that patients and clinics do not lose long-term access to ECR and technology continually progress. Results of our study identified the need for more research in this particular area as no definitive solution to long-term access to electronic clinical records was revealed. Additionally, the research findings highlighted the fact that a few medical institutions may actually be concerned about long-term access to electronic records.
Personal Health Record Management SystemYogeshIJTSRD
Good health is one of the most valuable resources for a human being. Large scale technological advancements have significantly improved human health by a large margin. But there are still several diseases whose symptoms are highly painful and debilitating for a patient. The doctor is in charge of facilitating an effective diagnosis of the patients illness and providing relief to the patient through various medications. For this purpose, the doctor has at his disposal repository of information in the form of PHR or Public Health Records which can be utilized for querying the symptoms experienced by the patient. Sometimes the Medical Institute does not have the PHR with the exact parameters and symptoms described by the patient. Due to the deficiency in the PHR database, the doctor can employ the use of a data aggregator or vendor for fulfilling the requirement from other medical institutions. The problem in this approach is that there is a lack of trust between the medical Institutions and the data aggregators, as PHR can contain sensitive and personally identifiable information that cannot be shared easily. Therefore, this Publication details the implementation of an effective access control mechanism through the use of the distributed blockchain framework along with the introduction of K means clustering and entropy analysis catalyst by the artificial neural network to alleviate the trust issues. Extensive experimentation on the proposed methodology has confirmed its superiority in comparison to the conventional approaches. Chinmayee Y. Raut | Bushra R. Inamdar | Prof. R. G. Yelalwar "Personal Health Record Management System" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-3 , April 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd39900.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/computer-engineering/39900/personal-health-record-management-system/chinmayee-y-raut
IT can do a revolution in many industries like health. Ksoft Technologies, cherppulassery does this through websites, mobile apps and computer software.
You can have a quick look into it's website and portfolio for more opportunities and needs - www.ksofttechnologies.com
Let's make it work !
Healthcare receivers’ acceptance of telecardiology in MalaysiaTELKOMNIKA JOURNAL
This quantitative study investigates acceptance towards implementation of telecardiology in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the potential factors that could be the key elements in cultivating positive behaviour towards telecardiology adoption in Malaysia. Data was gathered by using survey method from 149 patients and publics who use internet service in their daily lives. The questionnaire was developed by integrating Technology Readiness Index (TRI), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) which consists of 42 items. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and one-way ANOVA were conducted to analyse the data. The analysis reveals that Malaysians generally hold a positive perception towards implementation of telecardiology with some reservations. Besides that, gender and income of the respondents were found to influence the variables in telecardiology readiness, hence suggesting these two variables be taken into considerations in the adoption of telecardiology. It is our hope that the result of this study provides some useful information for the policy makers and implementers to develop effective implementation strategies that could reduce users’ resistance and adoption barriers in telecardiology adoption.
tps://www.ijmst.com/
IJMST Volume 1 Issue 7, Manuscript 3
This research work investigates Online Appointment System Services offered by hospital
websites to study the effective use of information and communication technology. Medical
appointments allow sufficient time for each patient‘s medical condition to be examined
thoroughly. Among various methods used in booking appointments, online appointment
booking is promising. This research work aims to investigate the Online Appointment
Service of Hospitals in India, to assess online appointment service process and to build an
improved online appointment model. Descriptive research method was employed in the
study. There are a few multi-speciality hospitals offering online appointments for
research, but most hospitals in India are yet to initiate online appointment facility. The
proposed new online appointment model which has evolved out of this research work
suggests efficient solutions to enable hospitals to provide better healthcare delivery using ICT
applications.
Online technologies are already fully integrated into almost every domain of activity associate cognitive operations of conception to use certain online tools. Establishing herbal prescription online is to help indigent patient’s access
medications and to improve Care. The purpose of this research is to build a practical model of the collective architectural conception process in relation to the use of basic online tools that help in getting herbal prescription. With this patient can get herbal medication from herbal practitioners online.
Consumer health informatics for people who use AAC: Views on e-health records...Bronwyn Hemsley
Paper presented at the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) Biennial Conference in Toronto, Canada, August 8th to 12th 2016.
The Case Study of an Early Warning Models for the Telecare Patients in TaiwanIJERA Editor
To propose a practical early warning analysis model for the telecare patients, this study applied data mining
technology as a basis to investigate the classification of patient groups by disease severity and incidence using
data contained in a telecare database regarding the number of a clinic. The ultimate purpose of this study was to
provide a new direction for telecare system planning and developing strategies.
The subject of this case study was a private clinic which is providing telecare system to patients in Taiwan, and
we used three data mining techniques including discriminant analysis, logistic regression and artificial neural
network to construct an early warning analysis model based on several factors such as: Demographic variables,
pathological signals, health management index, diagnosis and treatment records, emergency notification signal.
According the results, the telecare system can build stronger physician-patient relationship in advance through
previously paying attention to patients’ physiological conditions, reminding them to do self-management, even
taking them to the hospital for observation. A comparison of discriminative rates showed that the artificial neural
network model had the highest overall correct classification rate, 85.52%, and thus is a tool worthy of
recommendation
Clinical Information Systems and Electronic Health Records (October 18, 2021)Nawanan Theera-Ampornpunt
Presented at the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Programs in Data Science for Healthcare and Clinical Informatics, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand on October 18, 2021
Advances in information and communication technologies have led to the emergence of Internet of Things
(IoT). In the modern health care environment, the usage of IoT technologies brings convenience to physicians and
patients since they are applied to various medical areas (such as real-time monitoring, patient information and healthcare
management). The body sensor network (BSN) technology is one of the core technologies of IoT developments in
healthcare system, where a patient can be monitored using a collection of tiny-powered and lightweight wireless sensor
nodes
Impact of Green Marketed Product on Consumer Purchase DecisionKUMAR GAURAV
Research is conducted to analyse the impact of green marketed product on consumer purchase decision and to know what percent of the sample population is aware of green marketing or product manufactured through green process and their attitude towards it.
Major findings are-
* Consumer awareness towards green marketing products is high, a large no.
population approximately 55 percent is aware about green marketing.
* Consumer are ready to pay extra amount for green marketed product as they believe they are manufactured without harming environment which gives them a feeling socially responsible person and at the same time they believe green products are good for health.
Suggestions-
Government can play a very important role in promoting and creating awareness about the green marketing which is equally good for the environment, customer and for producers. Therefore govt. should try to take some necessary action.
Personal Health Record Management SystemYogeshIJTSRD
Good health is one of the most valuable resources for a human being. Large scale technological advancements have significantly improved human health by a large margin. But there are still several diseases whose symptoms are highly painful and debilitating for a patient. The doctor is in charge of facilitating an effective diagnosis of the patients illness and providing relief to the patient through various medications. For this purpose, the doctor has at his disposal repository of information in the form of PHR or Public Health Records which can be utilized for querying the symptoms experienced by the patient. Sometimes the Medical Institute does not have the PHR with the exact parameters and symptoms described by the patient. Due to the deficiency in the PHR database, the doctor can employ the use of a data aggregator or vendor for fulfilling the requirement from other medical institutions. The problem in this approach is that there is a lack of trust between the medical Institutions and the data aggregators, as PHR can contain sensitive and personally identifiable information that cannot be shared easily. Therefore, this Publication details the implementation of an effective access control mechanism through the use of the distributed blockchain framework along with the introduction of K means clustering and entropy analysis catalyst by the artificial neural network to alleviate the trust issues. Extensive experimentation on the proposed methodology has confirmed its superiority in comparison to the conventional approaches. Chinmayee Y. Raut | Bushra R. Inamdar | Prof. R. G. Yelalwar "Personal Health Record Management System" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-3 , April 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd39900.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/computer-engineering/39900/personal-health-record-management-system/chinmayee-y-raut
IT can do a revolution in many industries like health. Ksoft Technologies, cherppulassery does this through websites, mobile apps and computer software.
You can have a quick look into it's website and portfolio for more opportunities and needs - www.ksofttechnologies.com
Let's make it work !
Healthcare receivers’ acceptance of telecardiology in MalaysiaTELKOMNIKA JOURNAL
This quantitative study investigates acceptance towards implementation of telecardiology in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the potential factors that could be the key elements in cultivating positive behaviour towards telecardiology adoption in Malaysia. Data was gathered by using survey method from 149 patients and publics who use internet service in their daily lives. The questionnaire was developed by integrating Technology Readiness Index (TRI), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) which consists of 42 items. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and one-way ANOVA were conducted to analyse the data. The analysis reveals that Malaysians generally hold a positive perception towards implementation of telecardiology with some reservations. Besides that, gender and income of the respondents were found to influence the variables in telecardiology readiness, hence suggesting these two variables be taken into considerations in the adoption of telecardiology. It is our hope that the result of this study provides some useful information for the policy makers and implementers to develop effective implementation strategies that could reduce users’ resistance and adoption barriers in telecardiology adoption.
tps://www.ijmst.com/
IJMST Volume 1 Issue 7, Manuscript 3
This research work investigates Online Appointment System Services offered by hospital
websites to study the effective use of information and communication technology. Medical
appointments allow sufficient time for each patient‘s medical condition to be examined
thoroughly. Among various methods used in booking appointments, online appointment
booking is promising. This research work aims to investigate the Online Appointment
Service of Hospitals in India, to assess online appointment service process and to build an
improved online appointment model. Descriptive research method was employed in the
study. There are a few multi-speciality hospitals offering online appointments for
research, but most hospitals in India are yet to initiate online appointment facility. The
proposed new online appointment model which has evolved out of this research work
suggests efficient solutions to enable hospitals to provide better healthcare delivery using ICT
applications.
Online technologies are already fully integrated into almost every domain of activity associate cognitive operations of conception to use certain online tools. Establishing herbal prescription online is to help indigent patient’s access
medications and to improve Care. The purpose of this research is to build a practical model of the collective architectural conception process in relation to the use of basic online tools that help in getting herbal prescription. With this patient can get herbal medication from herbal practitioners online.
Consumer health informatics for people who use AAC: Views on e-health records...Bronwyn Hemsley
Paper presented at the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) Biennial Conference in Toronto, Canada, August 8th to 12th 2016.
The Case Study of an Early Warning Models for the Telecare Patients in TaiwanIJERA Editor
To propose a practical early warning analysis model for the telecare patients, this study applied data mining
technology as a basis to investigate the classification of patient groups by disease severity and incidence using
data contained in a telecare database regarding the number of a clinic. The ultimate purpose of this study was to
provide a new direction for telecare system planning and developing strategies.
The subject of this case study was a private clinic which is providing telecare system to patients in Taiwan, and
we used three data mining techniques including discriminant analysis, logistic regression and artificial neural
network to construct an early warning analysis model based on several factors such as: Demographic variables,
pathological signals, health management index, diagnosis and treatment records, emergency notification signal.
According the results, the telecare system can build stronger physician-patient relationship in advance through
previously paying attention to patients’ physiological conditions, reminding them to do self-management, even
taking them to the hospital for observation. A comparison of discriminative rates showed that the artificial neural
network model had the highest overall correct classification rate, 85.52%, and thus is a tool worthy of
recommendation
Clinical Information Systems and Electronic Health Records (October 18, 2021)Nawanan Theera-Ampornpunt
Presented at the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Programs in Data Science for Healthcare and Clinical Informatics, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand on October 18, 2021
Advances in information and communication technologies have led to the emergence of Internet of Things
(IoT). In the modern health care environment, the usage of IoT technologies brings convenience to physicians and
patients since they are applied to various medical areas (such as real-time monitoring, patient information and healthcare
management). The body sensor network (BSN) technology is one of the core technologies of IoT developments in
healthcare system, where a patient can be monitored using a collection of tiny-powered and lightweight wireless sensor
nodes
Impact of Green Marketed Product on Consumer Purchase DecisionKUMAR GAURAV
Research is conducted to analyse the impact of green marketed product on consumer purchase decision and to know what percent of the sample population is aware of green marketing or product manufactured through green process and their attitude towards it.
Major findings are-
* Consumer awareness towards green marketing products is high, a large no.
population approximately 55 percent is aware about green marketing.
* Consumer are ready to pay extra amount for green marketed product as they believe they are manufactured without harming environment which gives them a feeling socially responsible person and at the same time they believe green products are good for health.
Suggestions-
Government can play a very important role in promoting and creating awareness about the green marketing which is equally good for the environment, customer and for producers. Therefore govt. should try to take some necessary action.
Assessment the impact of Sales promotion tools on increasing Consumers purcha...David mwakanyamale
This research paper aim to assess the impact of sales promotion on influencing consumer purchasing towards beverage companies in Tanzania. A case study of Tanzania breweries limited mwanza plant
Modern Era of Medical Field : E-HealthFull Text ijbbjournal
E-Health is alluded to as utilizing of information and communication technologies (ICT) in restorative field
to control treatment of patients, research, and wellbeing training and checking of general wellbeing. The
reason for this paper is thusly to investigate an institutionalized system for E-Health challenges confronted
by e-wellbeing A rundown of both e-wellbeing difficulties are given and a proposed structure is likewise
accommodated E-Health and could give direction in the execution of e-wellbeing To understand the
motivation behind the paper, an inductive substance examination procedure was taken after. The
fundamental outcomes were that in spite of the fact that the difficulties exceeds the advantages in the gave
records, there is still trust that through appropriate ICT arrangements the advantages of e-wellbeing can
develop all the more quickly. This can prompt to enhanced e-wellbeing administration conveyance and
nationals in nations can all profit by this
Running Head ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS .docxtodd271
Running Head: ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS 1
Electronic Health Records 2
Electronic Health Records
University of Saint Augustine for Health Sciences IPE7400B900: Healthcare Informatics and Technology Management
Health is a very critical part of human life that signifies the absence of illness. The goal of every country is to provide the best healthcare services for all citizens to promote health and improve lives. Many countries have had various problems in relation to the prioritization of health for its citizens. This has called for more fund allocation into research to establish better ways of attaining better health and solving chronic diseases. This brings the burden of medical care to be high for a country especially the developing countries which have had many mortality rates due to insufficient funds for the research. This calls for better equipping of the health sector in a way that could reduce of research expense. The electronic health record is one of the major successes in the health sector. This is because the discovery and development have made information readily available and accessible which enables the researchers to carry out research with minimal funds and at shorter time periods. Therefore, this paper will focus on electronic health records pinpointing its weaknesses and recommend ways to improve the same for a better health system in the country.
Problem Statement
Health is a very critical part of human health and better living. This calls for innovations and inventions in the health sector. However, the cost of health in many countries especially in the developing countries has been so high that the mortality rates due to medical inaccessibility have continuously gone high. The high mortality rates have been contributed by the chronic diseases which researchers take more time to come up with a cure or even intervention methods. All this has been contributed by the increased budget of healthcare. The introduction of electronic health record although not yet widely adopted by the developing countries, is a light at the end of a tunnel. This is because of its reduced cost in record storage, easy accessibility of health information and easy transfer of the patient's information (Fatt & Zain, 2016, pp.75).
The introduction of electronic health records has improved the health sector. However, research done in the USA to determine the effectiveness of the system has pointed out some challenges that raise eyebrows. According to Rumbold, & Pierscionek, (2017, pp. 92), the use of technology has its costs. There have been concerns about the security of the information that is stored electronically due to the latest security breaches. Standing & Cripps, (2015, pp. 75-85) points out the inconsistency of information from the patients as som.
Evolution of Health Care Paper and TimelineThere are specifi.docxSANSKAR20
Evolution of Health Care Paper and Timeline
There are specific trends from manual to electronic operations in the health care facilities, healthcare providers and similar businesses operators. The evolution has taken place within the health care providers, administrative data and the insurance plans as well. The health care industries have automated several procedures such as the supply of drugs and accurate record keeping (Loker 2012). Electronic health care uses sophisticated technology unlike the manual one; this advanced technology has been applied in the provision of health care all over the world hence saving both time and cost It has also widened and perfected the scope of operation.
How has this change impacted the quality of care?
The change to electronic medical records has proven to be successful and helpful in providing quality patient care. Some ways that it has helped is improving patient care, increasing patient participation, improved care coordination, improved diagnostic and patient outcomes, and practice efficiencies and cost savings. (HealthIT.gov). Patients are able to be more involved in the patient care process and are able to access to their records which was not possible in the past. The transporting of records from one physician to another is much quicker now because it can be done by a click of a button. When needing to send a patient to a specialist or when getting an authorization for a patient’s recommended treatment can be done a lot quicker as well. This is speeding up the process in being able to provide quick and quality care so the patient does not need to wait as long as they would have had to in the past.
Percentage of physicians whose electronic health records provided selected benefits
(HealthIT.gov)
Electronic medical records has proven to be a good thing for both the medical provider as well as the patient and it has decreased the wait times to results or any potential errors and enhanced patient care.
Did Societal beliefs and values influence this change? Why or why not?
The health care delivery system in our country has its roots in the beliefs and values of the people (Shi & Singh, 2012). The firm belief in technological innovations leads to higher expectations of people, which has fueled the growth in technological innovations. The culture of individualism has led the medical practice to keep the individual healthy. Patients tend to evaluate the institutions by their acquisition of advanced technology. The expectation of Americans on what technology can do to cure illness is higher compared to the Canadians and Germans (Shi & Singh, 2012, p. 168). The societal beliefs and values impact not only the structure of health care delivery but also the training of health care providers.
The use of EHRs provided access to patients’ records on demand and have improved the quality of health care (Shi & Singh, 2012). Although the EHRs were to improve the quality of health care delivery, many ...
76 CHAPTER 4 Assessing Health and Health Behaviors Objecti.docxpriestmanmable
76
CHAPTER 4
Assessing Health and Health Behaviors
Objectives
this chapter will enable the reader to:
1. Describe the expected outcomes of a nursing health assessment.
2. Identify the components of a nursing health assessment conducted for an individual client.
3. Examine life span, language, and culturally appropriate nursing health assessment tools for children, adults, and older adults.
4. Compare the similarities and differences among the various approaches to assessing the family, mindful of cultural influences.
5. Evaluate the criteria for conducting a screening in the community.
6. Compare the similarities and differences among the various approaches to assessing
the community.
Athorough assessment of health and health behaviors is the foundation for tailoring a health promotion-prevention plan. Assessment provides the database for making clinical judgments about the client’s health strengths, health problems, nursing diagnoses, desired health or behavioral outcomes, as well as the interventions likely to be effective. This information also forms the nature of the client–nurse partnership such as the frequency of con- tact and the need for coordination with other health professionals. The portfolio of assessment measures depends on the characteristics of the client, including developmental stage and cul- tural orientation. The nurse assesses age, language, and cultural appropriateness of the various measures selected.
Cultural competence is the ability to communicate effectively with people of different cultures. Providing culturally competent care is the cornerstone of the nursing assessment. The nurse’s aware- ness of her own attitude toward cultural differences and her cultural worldview and characteristics
Chapter4 • AssessingHealthandHealthBehaviors 77
are critical to her understanding and knowledge of various cultures. Recognizing that diversity exists in all cultures based on educational level, socioeconomic status, religion, rural/urban residence, and individual and family characteristics will ensure a more successful encounter (The Office of Minority Health, 2013). An online cultural educational program, designed specifically for nurses and featur- ing videotaped case studies and interactive tools, is available.
The Enhanced National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services, based on a definition of culture expanded to include geography, spirituality, language, race and ethnicity, and biology, provides a practical guide to culturally and linguistically sensitive care (The Office of Minority Health, 2013).
Technology is having a significant impact on health care. The Electronic Health Record (EHR) promotes involvement of the client in developing a dynamic, tailored database. The EHR offers great promise to improve health and increase the client’s satisfaction with his care. Data aggregation, cross-continuum coordination, and clinical care plan management are critical com- ponents of the.
Integrating PHRs into EHR Platforms When electronic health re.docxBHANU281672
Integrating PHRs into EHR Platforms
When electronic health records (EHRs) first entered the market, their primary focus was to collect and analyze patient information within health care settings. As technological capabilities grew, so did the interest in making these records available to patients. In addition, many health care professionals saw benefits in allowing the patient to enter his or her own health data into EHR platforms. Though many patients are already utilizing personal health records (PHRs) to manage and track their own health, some believe that an integrated system would provide a better, more comprehensive picture of a patient’s health history.
As a result, many EHR platforms are now equipped with a PHR tool. This PHR tool allows patients to enter health information as they would in a stand-alone PHR system. In addition, web-based portals within the EHR allow patients to access information entered by their physicians and health care providers.
Like many emerging trends and technologies, there is much discussion about the potential benefits and challenges of this type of integrated system. While many health care professionals are excited about the empowerment provided to patients, others express significant concerns about access, security, ethics, and other implications.
In this Discussion, you explore how integrating PHRs into EHR platforms could impact you and your patients.
To prepare:
Review the media
Patient-Centered Technologies
, and reflect upon Dr. Simpson’
s
statements about the ownership of patient data.
Review the article,“Dreams and Nightmares: Practice and Ethical Issues for Patients and Physicians Using Personal Health Records” found in this week’s Learning Resources. Consider how PHR capabilities can be integrated into EHR platforms.
Examine the “dreams” and the “nightmares” the authors associate with this type of integrated health record. Select one benefit or one challenge of integrating PHRs into EHR platforms. Then, consider its potential impact on health care providers and patients. Why is this considered to be a benefit or challenge for health care professionals and patients?
Post by tomorrow 07/05/2016 a minimum of 550 words in APA format and 3 references.
1) A brief description of your selected benefit or challenge and support your selection.
2) Explain the potential impact on health care professionals and patients.
Required Resources
Readings
Saba, V. K., & McCormick, K. A. (2015).
Essentials of nursing informatics
(6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Review Chapter 1, “Historical Perspectives of Nursing Informatics”
In this chapter, the authors explain the transition from paper-based records to electronic records. The chapter provides an overview of the historical events that contributed to the rise of electronic health records.
Chapter 25, “Care Delivery Across the Care Continuum: Hospital-Community-Home”
Chapter 25 analyzes the impact of home health on the heal ...
Respond to at least two of your colleagues offering additionalal.docxaudeleypearl
Respond to at least two of your colleagues* offering additional/alternative ideas regarding opportunities and risks related to the observations shared.
Eliverta
Discussion - Week 6
Top of Form
Electronic Health Record (EHR) is continuing to evolve in today’s medical facilities. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act mandated health organizations to transition to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) by January 1, 2014 in order to maintain Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement (USF Health, 2019). For this week’s discussion I will reflect on the module resources on digital information tools and technologies. I will discuss the healthcare technologies used in the health organization I work for. Lastly, I will reflect on any possible health technologies and the impact it has on nursing practice and healthcare delivery.
The health organization I work for switched to EPIC software for EMR two years ago. EPIC is user friendly for nurses as well as patients. EPIC corresponds to MyChart giving patients access to on their medical records (MyChart, 2019). I work in outpatient Endoscopy clinic where part of patient After Visit Summary (AVS) we educate patients on the use of MyChart and provide them with a code so they can access MyChart from home. Patients can access their medical records, and view lab results, make appointments, communicate with their provider, and pay their medical bills with MyChart (2019). ProVation is another form of technology used in the facility I work for. ProVation is used by the physicians where they document the Endoscopy procedure outcomes and results noted by the physician (ProVation, 2019). The physicians can document their findings as well as list out orders or management solutions for the patients (ProVation, 2019).
EHR has made it possible for nurses to provide efficient patient care as it has given us the ability to share patient information with other providers and health care organization departments, such as pharmacy, laboratory, etc (HealthIT, 2018). Patient care and experiences are improving because patients are being included in their care and they can make decisions in the plan of care. Having quick access to medical records and information results in increased patient satisfactions. Also, by combining patient portals inpatient healthcare facilities has resulted in a decrease of medical errors and adverse events (Dyes et al, 2017).
EHR poses a list of challenges with the main one being security safety. Web-based technology does put us at increased risk of breach of information by hackers. It can also be challenging for individuals to navigate web-based health technology, resulting in decreased patient satisfaction. Our older population is reluctant when it comes to using technology, they prefer paper written information. Documentation errors are associated with improper utilization, due to insufficient training (David, 2017).
In conclusion, EHR comes with many benefits as well as challenges. It has improved qu ...
MANAGING THE INFORMATION SECURITY ISSUES OF ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDSijsptm
All healthcare providers should have enough knowledge and sufficient information to understand the potential risk, which can lead to a breach in the Jordanian health information system (Hakeem program). This study aims to emphasise the importance of sharing sensitive health information among healthcare providers, create laws and regulations to keep the electronic medical records secure, and increase the
awareness about health information security among healthcare providers. The study conducted seven interviews with medical staff and an information technology technician. The study results showed that sharing sensitive information in a secure environment, creating laws and regulations, and increasing the
awareness about health information security render the electronic medical records of patients more secure and safe
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Towards ehr interoperability in tanzania
1. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
TOWARDS EHR INTEROPERABILITY IN TANZANIA
HOSPITALS: ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND
OPPORTUNITIES
Lawrence Nehemiah
School of Computation Communication Science and Engineering, Nelson Mandela
African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania
ABSTRACT
This study aimed at identifying the issue, challenges and opportunities from the health consumers in
Tanzania towards interoperability of electronic health records. Reaching that level of seamless data
sharing among Hospitals needs the cooperation of all stakeholders especially the health consumer whose
data are the ones to be shared. Without their acceptance that means there is nothing to share. Recognizing
that we conducted a study in Tanzania to identify the challenges, issues and opportunities towards health
information exchange through interoperable EHRs. The study was conducted in three major cities of
Tanzania to identify the security, privacy and confidentiality issues of information sharing together with
related challenges to data sharing. This was in order to come up with a clear picture of how to implement
some EHRs that will be trusted by health consumers. The participants (n=240) were surveyed on computer
usage, EHRs knowledge, demographics, security and privacy issues. A total of 200 surveys were completed
and returned (83.3% response rate). Among them 67.5% were women, 62.6% had not heard of EHRs, 73%
were highly concerned about the privacy and security of their information. 75% believed that introduction
of various security mechanisms will make EHRs more secure and thus better. We conducted a number of
chi-square tests (p<0.05) and we realized that there was a strong relationship among the variable of age,
computer use, EHRs knowledge and the concerns for privacy and security.The study also showed that there
was just a small difference of 8.5% between those people who think EHRs are safer than paper records and
those who think otherwise. The general observation of the study was that in order to make EHRs successful
in our Hospitals then the issue of security, and health consumer involvement were they two key towards the
road of successful EHRs in our hospitals practices and that will make consumers more willing to allow
their records to be shared among different health organizations. So besides the issues identified, this study
helped us to identify the key requirements which will be implemented in our proposed framework.
KEYWORDS
Electronic Health Record (EHR), Privacy, Security, Interoperability, Paper-records.
1. INTRODUCTION
The sharing of electronic health information amongst healthcare providers is projected to provide
prospective benefits for the healthcare users in the near future due to improved quality, safety,
and efficiency in the whole process of care delivery. The successful process of health information
DOI : 10.5121/ijcsea.2014.4404 29
2. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
sharing will also offer users with new and effective means for cooperating with their healthcare
providers than it is now in the managing of their data. These benefits are in line with the strategic
goals stated in a report by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) in 2013 that is to
“enable the health sector to operate more effectively as a connected system, overcoming
fragmentation and duplication of service delivery” and also “make patient care safe and effective
by ensuring that the correct information is available in a timely manner, where it is needed and to
whom it is needed” [1]. With these goals towards increasing the impact of information
technology in health sector, then the use of Electronic Health Records is becoming unavoidable.
Studies show that it is only a matter of time before the traditional paper-based record keeping is
replaced by the electronic one [2]. The target is to establish a shared patient’s medical history
from the day they are born and throughout their lifetime [3]. However with these promising
benefits there are also come some issues especially from the consumers about the safety of the
whole process. There are some concerns about security, privacy and confidentiality of patient
data that are the key to sharing healthcare information [4]. Some patients are willing for the
sharing of their medical records electronically only when they are assured of the privacy and
confidentiality.That is, they will not freely feel like giving out any intimate details about their
health unless they are assured that no one else who is not involved in their health issues will get
their medical records. This is one of the major setbacks that this study has found towards the
sharing of medical records in Tanzania through implementation of interoperable EHRs. Some of
them say that they prefer paper based health records since it is hard for someone to breach due to
its bulky nature. So it is mainly privacy that the consumers are concerned about when it comes to
any record system which is electronic. On the other hand there are patient who were concerned
about their privacy but also said the advantages that the EHRs are promising outweigh the risks
that they may encounter to privacy while others show no problem at all with privacy issues. There
are some other technical challenges towards this goal of health information sharing the major one
being lack of standardized electronic health records among different healthcare setups. This is
caused by the lack of common infrastructure amongst hospital information technology and EHR
systems. Another barrier has been identified as the lack of semantics in the interoperability
approaches. Semantic interoperability involves the structure of the exchanged data and the coding
system involved for the common interpretation of the transferred data [5]. However this study has
shown that development in the semantic web technology has some good and promising benefits
in trying to solve the issues concerned with semantic interoperability.
2. METHODOLOGY
30
2.1SURVEY DESIGN
In this study about 240 participants were involved, the sample population was taken from three
different hospitals in Tanzania located in three different regions; therefore this sample targeted
was mainly from those people who were in the process of receiving healthcare and others were
those who just accompanied their loved ones to the hospital. The reason for this is due to the fact
that these people who were found at the point of care will be more alarmed and attentive of their
medical information than those at home for example.
We obtained the participants through a two steps process. The first one was first to locate where
we should go for the survey and to obtain a go ahead form the involved hospitals so as to allow
their patients and some staff to be involved in the study. We send some introduction letters which
3. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
were outlining the whole study aim to each of these hospitals (Arusha Lutheran Medical Center,
Bugando hospital, and Muhimbili National Hospital) and asking for a permission to use their
centers in the survey process. A total of three letters were sent out in which the time required for
the whole process to be completed was mentioned. The second step involved preparing the survey
itself which involved some questionnaires to be filled out by the participants. We distributed a
minimum of 80 questionnaires in each hospital involved. The study took about a month to
complete. The response were positive from all the three hospitals involved and we managed to get
back a total of 200 responses.
Besides the survey which was mainly done to the health consumers, we were also conducting a
simultaneous system study to address some technical issues involved with the systems in the
selected hospitals. We did this by observing and oral interview with the systems administrators.
31
2.2 DATA ANALYSIS
In the study we included some demographic questions such as age and sex so as to determine
whether there was any relationship that would be clearly attributed to the qualities of such kind of
information.
We first analyzed our data by using the standardized descriptive statistics. Later the further
analysis was done to point out any statistically significant results by using chi-square analysis. In
this analysis the dependent variables in each case were the concern of the participants on health
information sharing through EHRs, privacy and security of their medical information and the
answers to the question whether they believed that EHRs were more secure and efficient than the
paper-based records which is dominant as of now. By using SPSS v20 all the analyses were
computed and a 2-tailed significance at the level of P<0.05 was considered.
3. RESULTS
We were able to get 200 responses which is a response rate of 83.3 %. The demographics
outcomeshave revealed that the majority of the people who partook this survey were between the
ages of 20 and 40 which indicate that those attending healthcare providers were in their 20s or
approaching middle age. There were more women than men and this is just to keep on proving
the fact most of those attending the hospitals are women just as some other studies which were
done before like the one which was done in New Zealand by Chhanabhai and Holt [6]. In our
study there were 135 women which make up 67.5% of all respondents. Most people who
participated in this study were regular computer users (80%), e-mail users were (78%), and
internet users were (72%).
One of the questions that the participants were asked is about their concerns in regard to the
confidentiality and privacy of their health records and it was found out that in general the
participants were concerned about their health information. The results are as follows:
4. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
32
Table 1: Participants concerns about the confidentiality and privacy of their health records
YES NO NOT SURE TOTAL
No. of participants 146 42 12 200
Percentage 73 21 6 100
We also compiled a list of all likely possible problems that may be faced with the use of EHRs
and presented to the participants. The results indicated that the majority of the participants
perceived that the EHR will surely lead to easy sharing of their medical records. Though 40%
believed that EHRs will also lead to simpledisclosure of their delicate medical information and
shared without their consent (39%). The participants were asked of whether the EHRs will
increase the occurrence of medical errors and 37% agreed while those who did not agree were
39%. This show that the issue of medicinal errors when using interoperable EHRs was not of so
much concern to the health consumers. Participants believed that EHRs will have issues on the
access methods with 53% believing that EHRs have an in-built weakness in its security system
and 30% believing that EHRs would have a strong security mechanism.
Since the EHRs are implemented in the same platforms as other computer systems we then
introduced a list of common problems that are occurring in everyday computer systems and asked
the participants to rank them as either they believe or otherwise that those common problems will
also be faced when using EHRs. Some of those problems are the manufacturer’s access, hackers,
viruses and malicious software. We grouped them into three that is agree, neutral and disagree.
Table 2 below gives then summary of the results:
Table 2: Participants’ perceptions on common problems of computer systems that can also affect EHRs
Agree Neutral Disagree Total (%)
Hackers 79.5 5 15.5 100
Malicious software 69 12 19 100
Manufacturer
70 13 17 100
access
Backup failure 51 11 38 100
On the introduction of different kinds of security measures that could be implemented with the
EHRs, most of the participants agreed that will make the EHRs more secure and more acceptable.
Some mechanisms that were introduced to the participants were the use of antiviruses,
implementing restricted system access, the use of firewalls, and encryption mechanisms. 75% of
the respondents agreed that this will make EHRs more secure and acceptable.
5. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
33
Table 3: The perceptions on whether security will increase on the introduction of different security
mechanisms
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Antivirus 49 30.3 10.7 6.6 3.4
Firewall 60.1 28.3 5 4.3 2.3
Restricted
56.7 31 5 4 3.3
access system
Audit log 50.3 36 7 3.7 3
Encryption 50 30.4 11.3 5 3.3
Due to the fact that most hospitals in Tanzania are still far behind on using IT in their day to day
activities and they are still keeping records on papers, we included another quantitative measure
as to whether they believed EHRs were more secure than paper records or otherwise. This helped
us to see the real reason behind low adoption of EHRs as well as the user acceptance level of the
EHR. Due to the nature of our healthcare environment it was assumed that the participants would
believe that paper records are still safer and we expected a big difference between these two
answers. Surprisingly the results from this study indicated otherwise. There was only a difference
of 8.5% between those who favored the paper records and those who favored the EHRs. 53.5% of
the contributors believed more in the paper records and among the reasons which were
frequentlystatedis that most don’t trust computers because they have a habit of crushing while
others said they were afraid of hackers. In the general commentaries, hackers were
statedaround105 times which makes up 61% of those who believed the paper records were safer.
So this brings us back to the same conclusion that most of the participants still believe that the
security is not strong enough with EHRs. 45% agreed that the EHRs are safer than paper records
and most of them said it was because papers get lost or damaged and sometimes misplaced; this is
the main reason mentioned to move to the EHRs.
We carried out a chi-square test on all the questions involved and the dependent variables were
participant’s concern for privacy and security of their records, participants’ answers to the
questions of paper records safety against electronic ones.
The following is what was found out from the test where at each case P<0.05:
i. Most of the younger age group didn’t care so much about the security concerns due to the
fact that they were more familiar with computers (P=0.02)
ii. Worries of security was mainly shown by women group since they are the greater users
of the healthcare (P=0.06)
iii. Consumers agreed that EHRs will provide most of the benefits that have been proposed
since they are consumer-focused (P=0.04).
iv. Consumers when introduced to a list of negative aspects of EHRs, will agree that EHR
may rise a number of concerns for them (P=0.03).
v. When consumers are made aware of the security measures that may be in place, they
believe that their records will be more secure (P=0.01).
6. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
34
4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
From our study we observed that the issue of security and privacy have been then major concern
of the health consumers, and this issue is not only for Tanzania but worldwide. According to
Dechene, he conducted a study on the barriers to health information sharing and found out that
most health consumers will not accept the idea of sharing their medical records if there will not
be proper security and privacy mechanisms in place [7]. These two concerns are mentioned as the
most contributors to the limited growth of EHRs and their acceptance by consumers. This is very
important to address because it is one of the barriers that keeps most if the hospitals from sharing
their medical records. There were some previous studies like this one which came up with the
same observation [8]. Those studies did show that EHRs pose a problem when it comes to
keeping their information private and confidential. From our study similar opinions can be
observed. Not only that the health consumers are concerned about privacy and security but also
about unauthorized access by some people. A recent study by Butler concluded that most patient
will be unwilling to share their medical information if trust is lacking and they believed that the
most part of the trust should come from the healthcare providers themselves [9]. Therefore we
can conclude that the Tanzania health consumers should be made comfortable by ensuring that
the issue surrounding privacy and security of their health records are clearly addressed before
taking any further step towards the implementation of interoperable EHRs for health information
exchange. This was also observed by a study by Dimitropoulos where he concluded that in order
to ensure a wide spread of health consumer participation in the whole process of health
information sharing then their participation in determining how the process should take placeis
very crucial regardless of their varying levels of privacy and security concerns [10].
We have also showed that many of the participants in the study were worried about hackers who
can get access to their health information, but the reality is only 20% of the unauthorized data
access are coming from hackers [11]. Most of the access breaches are in fact the job of the inside
personnel or the insufficiency of the operational policies in most of the hospitals. Just as a simple
example in one of the hospitals that I went for a field study I was allowed to access the real
patient data with names and some details. So in this regards we propose that it is important to
educate the consumers as to where the impending dangers come from and how they can be
dismissed and monitored.
Furthermore we have shown that there was a slightly small difference in the total outcome
between the participants who believed paper records were safer than the EHRs and those who
believed otherwise. From what most of them said it can be concluded that the only thing that will
increase more trust to the EHRs will be the improved security mechanisms. This was a bit
surprising result since it was hypothesized that the difference between the two answers would
have been bigger. That is due to the nature of our healthcare environment we expected most
people would say paper records are safer than EHRs and the difference would have been so big
but the difference was just 8.5%. This may lead us to assume that if the health consumers are
aware of the security mechanisms and they are a little familiar on how they are operating then
their perceptions of security of EHRs will be increased and they will tend to trust more on the
electronic records.
7. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
We also found out that most participants believed that all the advantages promised by the EHR
would be beneficial to the health system. This was supported by a number of replies in the
comments where some of them said the advantage of EHRs far outweigh their disadvantages and
also some others said if they could be assured of the security measures which are correctly
implemented then they will then turn to the EHRs. So this indicates that not only do the consumer
know about the advantages that are found in EHRs and can never be found in the paper records
but also they are willing to share their records electronically if they are assured of the security to
their information. The same results were found in a similar study which was done in New
Zealand in 2007 by Chhanabhai et al [12]. In their study about 60% believed paper records were
safer than electronic ones but they said if the EHRs are given strong security mechanisms then
they will consider EHRs safer than paper records.
In any field involving technology user acceptance is very important even than the technology
itself and that is even more important in health sector and these results have shown us that it is
not that the EHRs are not accepted but there are some areas especially security wise that needs to
be addressed first. So there is a need of proper measures to be put in place to ease the worries of
consumers and increase the acceptance level of the EHRs. Sometimes the worries are caused
simply by the traditionaldissimilarities, newness to the technology, or merely the sense that health
information is too personal to be shared among different healthcare providers.
5. THE STUDY LIMITATIONS
Time of the study was crucial. This study was limited to less than a year and that is why we only
included the participants from only three major cities and we didn’t go up to the rural areas. So
for any future study like this it is advised to have more time to reach even the villages and maybe
some location factors and a larger population sample may play a significant role in the results.
However even though the time was very limited we were able to achieve what we aimed for the
study.
6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank all the people and the healthcare organizations who participated in this
study.
35
8. International Journal of Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.4, No.4, August 2014
36
REFERENCES
[1] MoHSW. (2013). Tanzania National eHealth Strategy June, 2013 – July, 201 8. Available:
www.tzdpg.or.tz/fileadmin/documents/dpg_internal/dpg_working_groups_clusters/cluster_2/health/K
ey_Sector_Documents/Tanzania_Key_Health_Documents/Tz_eHealth_Strategy_Final.pdf. Last
accessed 31st July 2014.
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