Assessing the level of readiness in Tshwane and Dr Kenneth Kaunda Districts for implementing a national patient based information system

[摘要] PURPOSE: The National Health Insurance programme has been identified as a priority toachieve Universal Health Coverage in South Africa. The development and implementation ofa health information system (HIS) that is underpinned by a master population index (abilityto uniquely identify a person), and operates on the electronic health records (EHR) model iscritical for the implementation of the NHI. This study assesses the level of readiness inTshwane and Dr Kenneth Kaunda districts for implementing a national patient based healthinformation system.METHODS: This study design was a descriptive cross-sectional design. The study used astructured questionnaire to measure the level of readiness in two NHI districts, namely,Tshwane and Dr Kenneth Kaunda, for implementing a patient based National HealthInformation System in South Africa.RESULTS: The assessment has revealed that PHC facilities are at varying levels of readinessfor implementing a national patient based information system. Tshwane scored better thanDr Kenneth Kaunda district on all four readiness criteria, with non-significant differencesbetween them for core readiness, engagement readiness, and societal readiness andsignificantly higher levels in Tshwane for technological readiness. The readiness resultsvaried across all four domains, ranging from 13% and 16% for core readiness to 59% and68% for engagement readiness for Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Tshwane districts respectively.CONCLUSION: PHC facilities in Tshwane and Dr Kenneth Kaunda districts were capacitatedwith respect to ICT infrastructure. There were weaknesses with respect to businessprocesses and IT support. The business process for the filing system needs to be defined,optimised and implemented in PHC facilities. The turnaround time for IT support wasunacceptably high in both districts and needs to be improved prior to implementation of apatient based information system.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand