Assessing value of electronic medical records systems at CARAES Ndera Referral Hospital in Rwanda

Abstract

Background: EMR systems have been installed in Rwandan hospitals in the last few years. It has been hoped that their adoption can potentially transform the health care system from a mostly paper-based to one that utilizes clinical and other pieces of information to assist providers in delivering higher quality of care to their patients. Studies examining business value accrued from EMR usage have been widely done in other countries but not in Rwanda. This study set out to assess the value of Electronic Medical Records Systems at CARAES NDERA referral hospital in Rwanda. Objective: The overall objective of the study was to ascertain whether the integration of Electronic Medical Records Systems result in any tangible value in Ndera Hospital. Method: In achieving this objective, a survey was carried out at the hospital. Both stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used mainly targeting knowledgeable people about the daily running of the hospital while using the EMR Systems in place. Results: It was observed that majority of the system establishment objectives have been achieved to date, revenues have increased, and the ROI is positive, support for the EMR is high both internally and externally from the vendor and that the EMR has resulted in improved workflows and processes especially when compared against the increased patient numbers and the p-value results about such affirmations. Conclusion: While the systems still have some challenges with regard to functionality gaps, system output and extra training needs, overall, the results suggest that Ndera Hospital made a worthwhile investment in the EMR as the overall net system benefit seem positive. Since the initial adoption idea was based on how other systems users in other hospitals across the country were increasing their revenue collections, the resulting revenue increases are a clear indication that using EMR systems is positive across a wide range of assumptions. Hence, the magnitude of the return is sensitive to several key factors. Equally, these systems have provided the ground towards attaining this anticipated value. It is hoped that once this value is tracked over time, more improvement will be registered.