Contribution of Electronic Health Records on Healthcare Service Delivery in Two Selected Regional Hospitals in Eastern Sierra Leone

Abstract

Electronic health records (EHR) facilitate the collection and utilisation of data to enhance accessibility and efficiency of health information management at both the patient and population levels. This study aims to evaluate the impact of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) on healthcare service delivery in two selected regional Hospitals in Eastern Sierra Leone. A descriptive cross-sectional design involving healthcare workers and patients was employed to collect quantitative data. A stratified sampling technique was employed to ensure that the participants (healthcare workers and patients), were adequately represented and the participants from each stratum were selected using simple random techniques. Microsoft Excel 2019 was used to analyse the data, and Chi-square tests were used to assess the associations between EHR implementation and patient care efficiency. The results indicate that Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems in both districts have shown promising aspects, particularly in security features with 50% agreeing on access control and 64.91% supporting encryption. Patients reported (57.01%) satisfaction with the system’s ability to meet their information needs, and the reliability of data (53.51%) agreed and strongly agreed that e-health systems have improved the expertise of most medical doctors. Several challenges persist, notably majority (55.46%) disagreed and strongly disagreed that IT training improved their IT service quality, (68.69%) disagreed and strongly disagreed that IT staff were competent in using the e-health system. The average score of healthcare workers in relation to EHR usage was significantly lower (19.00) compared to patients (57.00), suggesting a disparity in EHR effectiveness perception. The total chi-square value for Kenema is 4.39, with a p-value of 0.22, suggesting that the differences observed in responses between the groups are not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The critical t-value for 19 degrees of freedom is 2.09 with no significant difference in average system quality that exists between the two hospitals. Hence, while the EHR systems in both districts have made strides in improving data management and patient information accessibility, the ongoing challenges in IT infrastructure, staff training, and system reliability must be addressed to enhance their impact on healthcare service delivery.