Description of Session
INTRODUCTION OF SESSION The World Health Organization has prioritized the need to address possible barriers to the use of electronic medical records prior to its implementation. A major barrier is the user’s unwillingness to adopt the system. Most studies done in developing countries are focused on the implementation and post implementation stages of electronic medical record systems and neglect the need for the primary assessment of the potential users of the system-in this case, the doctors. AIM This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and willingness of doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital to the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and to identify the factors that are significantly associated with the willingness. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a cross-sectional descriptive study done at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LUTH) in 2017 between April and September. A stratified sampling method was used to select 202 doctors and a pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographics, knowledge, attitude and willingness to use EMRs. Data were entered and analyzed using the Epi-info version 7 software. Associations between socio demographic factors, IT skills and willingness to use EMRs were determined using the chi-square and fisher’s exact tests. Level of statistical significance was set at p≤0.05 RESULTS Nearly all the respondents 195(96.54%) were found to be willing to use EMRs. The majority 201(99.95%) of the respondents had good knowledge of electronic medical records and all 202(100%) had good attitude. A significant association (P= 0.038) was found between willingness and IT skills. CONCLUSION Our result shows that there is a high knowledge, positive attitude and willingness to use electronic medical records by doctors in LUTH. It also identifies work duration and IT skills as significant factors in determining the willingness to use electronic medical records.
