ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement A-K 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 342
WONCA 2023 Supplement 1: WONCA 2023 abstracts (A–K)
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Healthcare providers and patient perspective on eHealth
introduction at a tertiary care facility in Ghana
Dr Kate Kontor
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Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital
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Background
Manual documentation of patients’ data has been operational for years within the Ghanaian healthcare
system. Recently, the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals are adopting the Lightwave
Health Information System (eHealth) to improve continuity of care and long-term archival of patient
data. In spite of the many advantages of this technological advancement, challenges are anticipated
with its inception.
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Aim
To assess the experiences of patients and healthcare providers (HP) regarding the introduction of
eHealth at the Family Medicine Directorate of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (FMD-KATH).
Methods
This cross-sectional study employed a convenience sampling technique to recruit HPs at the facility.
A semistructured questionnaire (five-point Likert scale items) was used to assess knowledge, attitude
and practices of both HPs and patients who used the eHealth at FMD-KATH. Data were analysed
using SPSS and presented as percentages.
Results
Overall, 35 patients (54.3% males vs 45.7% females) and 35 HPs (60.0% senior vs 40.0% junior staff)
participated in the study. Overwhelmingly, all the patients indicated that they were not informed about
the change to the eHealth data management. HP identified long waiting times (34.3%), loss of patient
data (40.0%) and difficulty retrieving patient data (20%) as the major challenges posed by the manual
documentation system. Although 91.4% of HP were in agreement with the introduction of the eHealth,
34.6% felt it was rushed. Although >80% of HP indicated that eHealth introduction has improved
patient care, network challenges (80.0%) and inadequate training (13.3%) were the major challenges
identified with the operationalisation of the eHealth.
Conclusion
Regular refresher training of HP as well as improved internet connectivity should be pursued to ensure
continuous improvement of the eHealth documentation.
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