Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov 8:2021:2230618.
doi: 10.1155/2021/2230618. eCollection 2021.

Utilization, Determinants, and Prospects of Electronic Medical Records in Ethiopia

Abdu Oumer  1 , Ahmed Muhye  1   2 , Imam Dagne  1 , Nesredin Ishak  3 , Ahmed Ale  4 , Abiyot Bekele  5
Affiliations

Utilization, Determinants, and Prospects of Electronic Medical Records in Ethiopia

Abdu Oumer et al. Biomed Res Int. .

Abstract

Background: A lot of effort is being done in the electronic medical record (EMR) system. However, it has not been implemented and used at the expected scale for maximal effectiveness. There is limited evidence on the factors affecting the utilization of EMR in this particular context, which are critical for targeted strategies.

Objective: To assess the magnitude and factors affecting the utilization of EMR among health professionals in eastern Ethiopia.

Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 412 health professionals from Harari and Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia, using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. The tool was developed from previous literature, and a pilot survey was done before the actual study. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression were done to assess the relationship between an independent variable with EMR use. Crude and an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval were reported. A P value of less than 0.05 was used to declare a statistically significant association.

Results: A total of 412 health professionals with a mean age of 29 years (±6.4 years) were included. A total of 229 (55.6%) and 300 (72.8%) of them had good knowledge and attitude towards the EMR, while 279 (67.7%) used the service (54% used it on a daily basis). About 272 (66%) of the respondents reported that they prefer EMRs to paper-based systems. Health professionals with more than five years of experience had two times higher odds of using the service (AOR = 2.22; 95% CI; 1.12-4.42) than early-career workers. Health professionals trained in EMR would use the service more (AOR = 5.88; 95% CI; 2.93-11.88) compared to those who did not take the training. In addition, having good knowledge (AOR = 1.52; 95% CI; 0.92-1.5) and a good attitude towards the EMR system (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI; 1.35-4.31) showed to use EMR as compared to counterparts.

Conclusions: The utilization of EMR was found to be optimal. Age, work experience, knowledge, attitude, and training of professionals were positively associated with the use of the service in their facility.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagrammatic summary of the sample size (sampling procedure) for each region and city administration based on the stratification and proportion of their health care work force.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Knowledge, attitude, and utilization of EMR by region (study sites).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Jaspers M., Knaup P., Schmidt D. Section 2: patient records: the computerized patient record: where do we stand? Yearbook of Medical Informatics . 2006;15(1):29–39. - PubMed
    1. Syzdykova A., Malta A., Zolfo M., Diro E., Oliveira J. L. Open-source electronic health record systems for low-resource settings: systematic review. JMIR Medical Informatics . 2017;5(4, article e8131) doi: 10.2196/medinform.8131. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mburu S., Kamau O. Framework for development and implementation of digital health policies to accelerate the attainment of sustainable development goals: case of Kenya eHealth Policy (2016-2030) Journal of Health Informatics in Africa . 2018;5
    1. World Health Organization (WHO) Electronic health records: manual for developing countries . Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific; 2006.
    1. Melton G. B., McDonald C. J., Tang P. C., Hripcsak G. Biomedical Informatics . Springer; 2021. Electronic health records; pp. 467–509. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources