A theoretical framework for the adoption of electronic patients' record management system in South Africa

Abstract

The potential to improve the diagnosis quality, reduce diagnosis errors, while improving the patient safety and reducing cost in health care by implementing information systems (IS) has been established by prior studies while the high rate of missing records, the absence of communication amongst doctors, poor communication between doctors and pharmacists, mistaken diagnoses and an inadequate number of medical professionals in South Africa have made the search for precise storage and access of medical information a priority. The study is undertaken as part of the M-tech course. The study is inspired by the manual systems that are currently used by medical practitioners in South Africa to capture, store and access patient's records. The objective of this study is to determine the factors that influence the adoption of electronic patient's records management systems, the risk, creditability, and the usefulness of adopting this technology and to make recommendations to practitioners, policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders regarding the adoption of electronic patients' record management system particularly in South Africa. This country has shown a slow adoption of such technologies. The slow adoption indicates the need for research in this field.