Hamid Mehmood, Muhammad Aslam, Sadia Aslam, Ammara Waqar, Athar Khan, Yasir Hassan, Faryal Murtaza Cheema, Hassan Mujtaba, Noor-e Maham.
Electronic health record systems; perception and evaluation among physicians in Pakistan.
Professional Med J Jan ;24(1):182-7.

Introduction: e-Health is a combination of medical informatics, public health, business and information technology. Health information technology has increased the productivity by reengineering of health care but it requires new measurement tools to monitor the impact of it .e-health is not only for the development of technologies but also it includes proper planning, thinking, broad thinking to improve healthcare services with the help of information and communication technology. Objectives: 1) To assess the perceptions of physicians towards the use, effectiveness and efficiency of EHR 2) To identify the differences between electronic and paper based records 3) To evaluate the usage of Electronic Health Records.4) To analyze satisfaction and challenges face by the physicians using EHR. Research Design: This is an Exploratory and Descriptive Research. In this study hybrid research method is used which includes qualitative and quantitative research methods. Sampling technique: For this study, a purposive sample of 43 physicians was selected. The sample size was 60 but 17 responses were incomplete so they were excluded and the final sample size was 43. Data was collected from two different hospitals of Pakistan which include the physicians from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, and Indus Hospital. Of the 43 participants, 51% were from Indus Hospital and 49% were from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. Instrument: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data and it was collected by email responses and direct interview. EHR Questionnaire: A questionnaire was used in the study. The EHR Questionnaire has comprised of 24 items. This questionnaire was developed by Msukwa. B.K.Martin.1 Data Analysis: Data analysis was done by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel. Procedure: The sample consisted of physicians from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, and Indus Hospital from Karachi. EHR is a new technology and hospitals are moving towards it, some are under process and very few like the above mentioned hospitals are using it. The questionnaire was not complicated. It was a structured questionnaire with easy questions with multiple options to fill in. Respondents were also acknowledged for their cooperation and participation in the study. Conclusion: EHR should be used effectively, proper training is needed to ensure that physicians are able to operate the system and can have maximum benefits from the technology by utilizing all its applications. The government should encourage adoption of Electronic Health l Records in Pakistan by developing a public-private partnership. The study focused also on EHR effectiveness by checking the working of EHR its quick and satisfactory results its accuracy, adequacy, timeliness, user- friendliness, availability and reliability.

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