Electronic Medical Record Utilization Its Determinant Factors And Barriers Among Health Care Providers At Selected Health Facilities In Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Background: Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is a longitudinal collection of health-relatedrninformation that can be created and managed by authorized clinicians. In Ethiopia, Electronic MedicalrnRecord is one part of the information revolution road map to transform the culture of data use. Limitedrnstudies have been conducted to determine the progress and determinants of utilization of ElectronicrnMedical Record. The aim of this study is, therefore, to assess the current utilization of EMR and itsrndeterminant factors among health care professionals working in Ababa city administration, 2020.rnMethod: A mixed study design was used among 367 health care providers and 12 key-informants. Fourrngovernment and three private health facilities were included. A multi-stage sampling technique wasrnused. Data were entered by epi-data and analyzed by STATA version 15. Atlas.ti version 7 was used tornmanage qualitative data. An ethical clearance letter was obtained from Addis Ababa University.rnDescriptive statistical summary measures were used to describe variables. Binary logistic regressionrnwith odds ratio and along with 95% confidence interval was used. Variables with a p-value of less thanrn0.25 were entered into the multivariable logistic analysis model. Finally, variables with a p-value of lessrnthan 0.05 were considered statistically significant.rnResult: A total of 353 respondents participated, making the response rate of 96.2%. Most of thernrespondents (48.2%) were nurses, followed by physicians (11.6%). Overall, 68.6% (95% CI= 63.773.4%)rnofrnhealthrncarernprofessionalsrnwerernutilizingrnthernEMRrnsystem.rnrnOnly 30.2% have received EMRrntraining. Factors such as access to basic EMR training (AOR=5.8, 95% CI=1.6-20.7), a favorablernattitude of health care providers (AOR=2.3, 95% CI=1.2-4.5), and user-friendly EMR interfacern(AOR=2.7, 95% CI=1.4-5.1) were positively associated with the use of EMR. However, individualsrnaged 35 & above were 66.4% less likely to use EMR than individuals aged 23-28. Key informantsrnmentioned; power fluctuation, shortage of capable EMR administrator, phase-out of vendors, absencernof guidelines and policies, shortage of equipment and legal issues as major barriers to utilize EMR.rnConclusion: EMR utilization by health care professionals from private health facilities was better thanrngovernment facilities. Overall utilization of EMR was low. The finding suggests that access to basicrnEMR training, the attitude of health care providers and the EMR interface were affecting the use ofrnEMR. Besides, absence of clear EMR guidelines, power and connection fluctuation hinders EMRrnutilization and needs intervention. We recommend periodic training for professionals and make the EMRrninterface friendly. There should be clear guidelines on how to use EMR, strict binding agreement, andrnclear phase-out strategy when giving EMR implementation for NGO EMR vendors.