Computerised Health Information System Implementation in Jordan, a Developing Country

Abstract

<b>Background and Purpose</b> <p>Many factors promote or hinder the development and implementation of computerised health information systems (HIS) in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a developing country. This study explores these factors, and identifies the benefits of and barriers to this system. While the collection of health information is routinely undertaken by health workers, many studies show that very little of this data is used by health staff. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to explore the factors that promote or hinder the development and implementation of computerised HIS in developing Arab countries. The study uses Jordan as an example, to explore the major factors affecting computerised HIS and offer suggestions on how to improve the use of these systems, as well as improve healthcare more generally. Five factors were identified as affecting the development and implementation of a computerised HIS: the functional factor, the organisational factor, the technical factor, the managerial factor, the cultural factor and the legal factor.</p> <b>Method</b> <p>This study addresses computerised HIS in Jordanian hospitals, using a mixedmethods approach. The mixed-method design is a stratified, cross-section explanatory sequential design. First, the design used quantitative resources for data collection and analysis, to detect the factors promoting or hindering the development and implementation of a computerised HIS in Jordan. Next, qualitative data was collected and analysed to detect any other factors not addressed by the quantitative approach. An indepth interview was conducted after the quantitative approach.</p> <b>Findings</b> <p>The study’s findings are presented in two ways, according to the data collection method: quantitative findings and qualitative findings. The qualitative method was used to address factors, benefits or barriers in the development and implementation of a computerised HIS in Jordanian hospitals that were not mentioned in the quantitative method. The qualitative results were consistent with the quantitative results. The results are arranged in three major sections. The first concerns the factors promoting or hindering the development and implementation of computerised HIS. The factors promoting this system are mentioned in the study: the functional factor, organisational factor, technical factor, managerial factor, cultural factor and legal factor. Only three items hindered the development and implementation of a computerised HIS. The second section discusses the benefits of the development and implementation of computerised HIS, under two categories: clinical benefits and organisational benefits. The last section outlines the three barriers to the development and implementation of computerised HIS: lack of healthcare staff training, shortage of computers and equipment and the availability of program updates.</p><p>The factors that promote or hinder the development and implementation of computerised HIS in a developing country, such as Jordan, are the same factors that affect it in developed countries. The benefits and barriers are also the same, because the main goal of computerised HIS in every country is the same: to improve the quality of healthcare.</p>